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I taught this bad boy.....er, I mean girl in a 2 day class in London England.
Thanks to Eme of Exotic Fantastic cake school for having me over.
“Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction”
Sanju, Wishing you a beautiful and happy married life :) This photo is for you.
Explore #144 : Thank you friends :)
A view from Kovalam beach. View On Black
No fewer than 44 people who had a connection to Göttingen—taught there, lived there for an extended period, or even just stayed there—make the city a world record holder in this category.
Because Göttingen lacked war-related industries, unlike Kassel, and because the Allies respected the cultural importance of this university town, and because some of their fellow countrymen had connections there, it was largely spared from bombing raids. After the war, the city avoided establishing large shopping centers and instead created large, deep, multi-story retail spaces in the old buildings in the city center, thus preserving its appeal as a shopping destination. The students, of course, also contribute significantly to a vibrant city life, resulting in a high quality of life and making Göttingen a popular tourist destination.
Deutsch
Göttingen, das Wunder der Nobelpreisträger
Nicht weniger als 44 Personen, die mit Göttingen zu tun hatten, dort lehrten, dort länger lebten oder sich dort kurz aufhielten macht die Stadt zum Weltrekordhalter in dieser Disziplin.
Weil Göttingen keine kriegsrelevanten Industrien hatte, wie z. B. Kassel und die Aliierten die kulturelle Wichtigkeit dieser Universitätsstadt respektierten, wei auch einige ihre gelehrten Landsleute eine Verbindung zu dieser Stadt hatten, wurde sie weitgehend von Bombenangriffen ausgenommen. Nachdem Krieg vermied man die Einführung von großen Geschäftdzentren und leis in der Stadmitte in den alten Gebäude, tiefe und gebäudeübergreifende große Geschäftsflächen zu, sodass die Stadt ihren Reiz als Einkaufstadt behielt. Die Studenten tragen natürlich auch viel zu einem lebhaften Stadtleben bei, sodass die Stadt eine hohe Lebensqualität erreicht und gerne auch von Touristen besucht wird.
RathausGöttingen_M
>>Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Explore highest : 26 :) thanku guys
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We were taught that Jedi's were the guardians of peace and justice. And at some point or another, we all heard stories about Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Yoda and even Mace Windu. (Come on, I know you watched at least one of the movies!)
But very little is known of the epic story of Daucus Carr'ot.
The only carrot Jedi that ever fought Darth Vader himself and won! (Well, actually the Jedi Council report technically considered it a 'tie') but Carr'ot himself swore he won! So let's just honor his memory by believing him.
His life was brief but glorious, and Carr'ot was a Jedi who knew his destiny and was determined to leave this world only after giving us two important messages:
1) That evil cannot win!
2) That you should always eat your vegetables!
... unfortunately that last message ended up costing his life since Yoda was incidentally very fond of midnight snacks that involved carrot cakes....
ツ
"Eat your vegetables, you must." ~ Yoda
Early Self-Taught Photography History: Silhouette of girl in tall grass (my sister, Sherrie). I was age 17, and she was about 14). Photographed with my father's Argus C3 rangefinder camera, using Kodachrome 25. This was over 40 years ago, and a deciding period in my life. It was when I was just starting to seriously think about photography. My sister was more than happy to be my model. She laid down on her back in our fruit orchard and propped herself part way up with her arms behind her back. I asked her to put a piece of orchard grass in her mouth and I laid down in the grass to position the sun behind her head. (Below is a photo I shot on that same roll of film.)
Technical Stuff: In a 1966 Popular Photography magazine I read where one could shoot dramatic silhouettes of people and objects against the sun by underexposing the film by 2 to 3 stops from what a front lighted subject would normally be exposed. So, if ISO 25 Kodachrome (it was called "ASA" in those days) had an exposure of F6.3 at 1/125 in bright sunlight, then I should choose an exposure between F9 and F19. I split the difference and choose F16 (but since it was about an hour from sunset and not "Sunny Bright", I opened up a stop to F11).
Digital vs. Analog: I don't think young photographers of today realize the huge learning curve that photographers using film had to overcome. Today we look at our LCD screens immediately after clicking the shutter and we get instant feedback. With film, you had to wait at least an hour for processing (with Kodachrome, living in a small town, you might wait two weeks). Exposure meters in the camera were just starting to appear. But for many of us, we relied on the manufacture's specifications sheet packed with the film (a.k.a. the "spec sheet", "cheat sheet" or "poop sheet"). There were starting exposures given for most outdoor lighting conditions such as, "Sunny Bright", "Cloudy Bright", "Overcast", and "Open shade". You learned to memorize these conditions and exposures. You took a lot of notes, and you reviewed those notes when the yellow boxes returned with your slides.
NOTE: Shooting slide film was better for the beginner than shooting color print film. With slides, you saw exactly what was going on (the slide development process is a "completion" process and the slide you look at is the actual film that went through your camera. With color print film, you received an interpretation of how the printer evaluated or read your negative.
Royce's Photo History (a tutorial): This image is part of a new series I call, "Royce's Way-Back Photos". It's a 40-year review of my professional photography career. I hope you'll come along for the ride. I'll try to share at least one "way-back" image a week. Each image is a milestone in my career and most have an associated lesson or tip that may enrich your life as it has mine. This series will soon become a SET. You'll also be able to find this collection via the tag "royceswaybackphotos".
My new ebook, Milky Way NightScapes, gives extensive details on my style of starry night landscape photography. Four chapters cover planning, scouting, forecasting star/landscape alignment, light painting, shooting techniques and post processing. Special Flickr Promo: Use Discount Code FLIK for $5.00 off at checkout (limited time only).
Night Photo Blog | Facebook | 500px | G+ | Instagram | Workshops
The magnetic motor will be cheaper than a standard motor to make, as the rotor and stator assemblies can be set into plastic housings, due to the fact that the system creates very little heat. Further, with the motor's energy efficiency, it will be well suited for any application where a motor has limited energy to drive it. While development is still focused on replacing existing devices, Minato says that his motor has sufficient torque to power a vehicle. With the help of magnetic propulsion, it is feasible to attach a generator to the motor and produce more electric power than was put into the device. Minato says that average efficiency on his motors is about 330 percent.
Mention of Over Unity devices in many scientific circles will draw icy skepticism. But if you can accept the idea that Minato's device is able to create motion and torque through its unique, sustainable permanent magnet propulsion system, then it makes sense that he is able to get more out of the unit than he puts in in terms of elctrical power. Indeed, if the device can produce a surplus of power for longer periods, every household in the land will want one.
"I am not in this for the money," Minato says. "I have done well in my musical career, but I want to make a contribution to society -- helping the backstreet manufacturers here in Japan and elsewhere. I want to reverse the trends caused by major multinationals. There is a place for corporations. But as the oil industry has taught us, energy is one area where a breakthrough invention like this cannot be trusted to large companies."
Minato was once close to making a deal with Enron. But today, he is firmly on a mission to support the small and the independent -- and to go worldwide with them and his amazing machine. "Our plan is to rally smaller companies and pool their talent, and to one day produce the technology across a wide range of fields."
When we first got the call from an excited colleague that he'd just seen the most amazing invention -- a magnetic motor that consumed almost no electricity -- we were so skeptical that we declined an invitation to go see it. If the technology was so good, we thought, how come they didn't have any customers yet?
We forgot about the invitation and the company until several months later, when our friend called again. "OK," he said. "They've just sold 40,000 units to a major convenience store chain. Now will you see it?" In Japan, no one pays for 40,000 convenience store cooling fans without being reasonably sure that they are going to work.
The Maestro ~
The streets of east Shinjuku are littered with the tailings of the many small factories and workshops still located there -- hardly one's image of the headquarters of a world-class technology company. But this is where we are first greeted outside Kohei Minato's workshop by Nobue Minato, the wife of the inventor and co-director of the family firm. The workshop itself is like a Hollywood set of an inventor's garage. Electrical machines, wires, measuring instruments and batteries are strewn everywhere. Along the diagram-covered walls are drill presses, racks of spare coils, Perspex plating and other paraphernalia. And seated in the back, head bowed in thought, is the 58-year-old techno maestro himself. Minato is no newcomer to the limelight. In fact, he has been an entertainer for most of his life, making music and producing his daughter's singing career in the US. He posseses an oversized presence, with a booming voice and a long ponytail. In short, you can easily imagine him onstage or in a convertible cruising down the coast of California -- not hunched over a mass of wires and coils in Tokyo's cramped backstreets. Joining us are a middle-aged banker and his entourage from Osaka and accounting and finance consultant Yukio Funai. The banker is doing a quick review for an investment, while the rest of us just want to see if Minato's magnetic motors really work. A prototype car air conditioner cooler sitting on a bench looks like it would fit into a Toyota Corolla and quickly catches our attention. Seeing is Believing ~
Nobue then takes us through the functions and operations of each of the machines, starting off with a simple explanation of the laws of magnetism and repulsion. She demonstrates the "Minato Wheel" by kicking a magnet-lined rotor into action with a magnetic wand. Looking carefully at the rotor, we see that it has over 16 magnets embedded on a slant -- apparently to make Minato's machines work, the positioning and angle of the magnets is critical. After she kicks the wheel into life, it keeps spinning, proving at least that the design doesn't suffer from magnetic lockup. She then moves us to the next device, a weighty machine connected to a tiny battery. Apparently the load on the machine is a 35kg rotor, which could easily be used in a washing machine. After she flicks the switch, the huge rotor spins at over 1,500 rpms effortlessly and silently. Meters show the power in and power out. Suddenly, a power source of 16 watt or so is driving a device that should be drawing at least 200 to 300 watts. Nobue explains to us that this and all the other devices only use electrical power for the two electromagnetic stators at either side of each rotor, which are used to kick the rotor past its lockup point then on to the next arc of magnets. Apparently the angle and spacing of the magnets is such that once the rotor is moving, repulsion between the stators and the rotor poles keeps the rotor moving smoothly in a counterclockwise direction. Either way, it's impressive. Next we move to a unit with its motor connected to a generator. What we see is striking. The meters showed an input to the stator electromagnets of approximately 1.8 volts and 150mA input, and from the generator, 9.144 volts and 192mA output. 1.8 x 0.15 x 2 = 540mW input and 9.144 x 0.192 = 1.755W out. But according to the laws of physics, you can't get more out of a device than you put into it. We mention this to Kohei Minato while looking under the workbench to make sure there aren't any hidden wires. Minato assures us that he hasn't transcended the laws of physics. The force supplying the unexplained extra power out is generated by the magnetic strength of the permanent magnets embedded in the rotor. "I'm simply harnessing one of the four fundamental forces of nature," he says. Although we learned in school that magnets were always bipolar and so magnetically induced motion would always end in a locked state of equilibrium, Minato explains that he has fine-tuned the positioning of the magnets and the timing of pulses to the stators to the point where the repulsion between the rotor and the stator (the fixed outer magnetic ring) is transitory. This creates further motion -- rather than a lockup. (See the sidebar on page 41 for a full explanation). Real Products ~ Nobue Minato leads us to the two devices that might convince a potential investor that this is all for real. First, she shows us the cooling fan prototype that is being manufactured for a convenience store chain's 14,000 outlets (3 fans per outlet). The unit looks almost identical to a Mitsubishi-manufactured fan unit next to it, which is the unit currently in wide use. In a test, the airflow from both units is about the same. The other unit is the car air conditioning prototype that caught our eye as we came in. It's a prototype for Nippon Denso, Japan's largest manufacturer of car air conditioners. The unit is remarkably compact and has the same contours and size as a conventional unit. Minato's manufacturing skills are clearly improving.
The Banker and his Investment ~
Minato has good reason to complain about Japan's social and cultural uniformity. For years, people thought of him as an oddball for playing the piano for a living, and bankers and investors have avoided him because of his habit of claiming that he'd discovered a breakthrough technology all by himself -- without any formal training. However, the Osaka banker stands up after the lecture and announces that before he goes, he will commit \100 million to the investment pool. Minato turns to us and smiles. We brought him good luck, and this was his third investor in as many weeks to confirm an interest. Bringing the Tech to the Table ~ With the audience gone, we ask Minato what he plans to do to commercialize the technology. His game plan is simple and clear, he says. He wants to retain control, and he wants to commercialize the technology in Japan first -- where he feels he can ensure that things get done right. Why doesn't he go directly to the US or China? His experiences in both countries, he suggests, have been less than successful. "The first stage is critical in terms of creating good products and refining the technology. I don't want to be busy with legal challenges and IP theft while doing that." Still, the export and licensing of the technology are on his agenda, and Minato is talking to a variety of potential partners in other countries. Whereas another inventor might be tempted to outsource everything to a larger corporation, part of what drives Minato is his vision of social justice and responsibility. The 40,000 motors for the convenience store chain are being produced by a group of small manufacturers in Ohta-ku and Bunkyo-ku, in the inner north of Tokyo -- which is becoming a regional rust belt. Minato is seized with the vision of reinvigorating these small workshops that until the 80s were the bedrock of Japan's manufacturing and economic miracle. Their level of expertise will ensure that the quality of the motors will be as good as those from any major company. International Prep " Despite his plan to do things domestically first, Minato is well prepared for the international markets. He is armed with both six years of living and doing business in Los Angeles in the early 90s -- and with patent protection for over 48 countries. His is hardly a provincial perspective. His US experience came after playing the piano for a living for 15 years. He began tinkering with his invention in the mid-70s. The idea for his magnetic motor design came from a burst of inspiration while playing the piano. But Minato decided to drop everything in 1990 to help his daughter Hiroko, who at the age of 20 decided that she wanted to be a rhythm and blues star in the US. Minato is a strong believer in family: If Hiroko was going to find fame and fortune in the US, Dad had better be there to help manage her. He suceeded in helping Hiroko to achieve a UK dance chart number one hit in 1995. In 1996 Minato returned to Japan and his magnetic motor project. The following year he displayed his prototypes to national power companies, government officials and others at a five-day conference in Mexico City. Interest was palpable, and Minato realized that his invention might meet a global need for energy-saving devices.
Subsequent previews and speeches in Korea and Singapore further consolidated his commitment to bringing the invention to fruition, and he was able to bring in several early-stage investors.
During the late 90s, Minato continued to refine his prototypes. He also stayed in constant contact with his lawyer, registering patents in major countries around the world. Through his experiences in the US he realized that legal protection was critical, even if it meant delaying release of the technology by a couple of years. Ironically, by the time he'd won patents in 47 countries, the Japanese patent office turned him down on the grounds that "[the invention] couldn' t possibly work" and that somehow he was fabricating the claims. But a few months later they were forced to recant their decision after the US patent office recognized his invention and gave him the first of two patents. As Minato notes: "How typical of Japan's small-minded bureaucrats that they needed the leadership of the US to accept that my invention was genuine." By 2001, the Minatos had refined their motors and met enough potential investors to enter into a major international relationship, initially with a Saudi company, to be followed thereafter by companies in the US and elsewhere. However, fate dealt the investors and Minato's business a serious blow when the World Trade Center was attacked in New York. The Saudis retreated, and Minato's plans fell back to square one. Now Minato is once again ready to move. With the first order in the works and more orders pending successful prototypes, he has decided that investors don't have to be primary partners. He is actively accepting inquiries from corporate investors who can bring strategic advantages and corporate credibility with them. His company, Japan Magnetic Fan, will make a series of investment tie-up announcements in the first and second quarters of 2004. Implications ~ Minato's motors consume just 20 percent or less of the power of conventional motors with the same torque and horse power. They run cool to the touch and produce almost no acoustic or electrical noise. They are significantly safer and cheaper (in terms of power consumed), and they are sounder environmentally. The implications are enormous. In the US alone, almost 55 percent of the nation's electricity is consumed by electric motors. While most factory operators buy the cheapest motors possible, they are steadily being educated by bodies like NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) that the costs of running a motor over a typical 20-year lifespan comprise a purchase price of just 3 percent of the total, and electricity costs of 97 percent. It is not unusual for a $2,000 motor to consume $80,000 of electricity (at a price of .06 cents per kilowatt hour). Since 1992, when efficiency legislation was put into place at the US federal level, motor efficiency has been a high priority -- and motors saving 20 percent or so on electrical bills are considered highly efficient. Minato is about to introduce a motor which saves 80 percent, putting it into an entirely new class: The $80,000 running cost will drop to just $16,000. This is a significant savings when multiplied by the millions of motors used throughout the USA and Japan -- and eventually, throughout the world. The Devices ; Minato's invention and its ability to use remarkably less power and run without heat or noise make it perfect for home appliances, personal computers, cellphones (a miniature generator is in the works) and other consumer products.
Content provided by J@pan Inc. Magazine -- www.japaninc.com
US Patent # 4,751,486
(Cl. 335/272)
Magnetic Rotation Apparatus
(June 14. 1998)
Kohei Minato
Abstract --- The magnetic rotation apparatus of the present invention has first and second rotors rotatably supported and juxtaposed. The first and second rotors are connected so as to be rotatable in opposite directions in a cooperating manner. A number of permanent magnets are arranged on a circumferential portion of the first rotor at regular intervals, and just as many permanent magnets are arranged on a circumferential portion of the second rotor at regular intervals. Each permanent magnet has one magnetic polarity located radially outward from the rotors, and has the other magnetic polarity located radially inward toward the rotors. The polarity of each permanent magnet, which is located radially outward from the rotors, is identical. When the first and second rotors are rotated in a cooperating manner, the phase of rotation of the permanent magnets of one rotor is slightly advanced from that of the permanent magnets of the other rotor. One of the permanent magnets of one rotor is replaced with the electromagnet. The radially outward polarity of the electromagnet can be changed by reversing the direction in which a current is supplied to the electromagnet.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a magnetic rotation apparatus in which a pair of rotors are rotated by utilizing a magnetic force.
BACKGROUND ART
An electromotor is well known as a rotation apparatus utilizing a magnetic force. For example, an AC electromotor comprises a rotor having a coil, a stator surrounding the rotor, and a plurality of electromagnets, disposed on the stator, for generating a rotating magnetic field. An electric power must be constantly supplied to the electromagnets in order to generate the rotating magnetic field and keep the rotor rotating, i.e., an external energy, or electric energy, is indispensable for the rotation of the rotor. Under the circumstances, a magnetic rotation apparatus, which employs permanent magnets in lieu of electromagnets and can rotate a rotor only by a magnetic force of the permanent magnets, is highly desirable. The present application proposes a magnetic rotation apparatus which comprises a pair of rotors rotatable in opposite directions in a cooperating manner, and a plurality of permanent magnets stationarily arranged at regular intervals on the peripheral portion of each rotor. One end portion of each permanent magnet of both rotors, which has the same polarity, is located radially outward of the rotors. When the two rotors are rotated in a cooperating fashion, a permanent magnet on one rotor and a corresponding permanent magnet on the other, which form a pair, approach and move away from each other periodically. In this case, the phase of rotation of the magnet on one rotor advances a little from that of the corresponding magnet on the other rotor. When the paired permanent magnets approach each other, magnetic repulsion causes one rotor to rotate. The rotation of one rotor is transmitted to the other rotor to rotate the same. In this manner, other pairs of magnets on both rotors sequentially approach each other, and magnetic repulsion occurs incessantly. As a result, the rotors continue to rotate. In the above apparatus, in order to stop the rotation of the rotors, a brake device is required. If an ordinary brake device is mounted on the magnetic rotation apparatus, the entire structure of the apparatus becomes complex, and a driving source for the brake device must be provided separately. The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a magnetic rotation apparatus including a brake device for suitably stopping the rotation of rotors.,DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The magnetic rotation apparatus of the present invention is provided with magnetic force conversion means which is substituted for at least one pair of permanent magnets of the paired rotors. In a normal state, the magnetic force conversion means causes a magnetic repulsion, as in the other pairs of permanent magnets. When it is intended for the rotors to stop, the magnetic force conversion means causes a magnetic attraction force. Since a magnetic attraction force can be produced between the rotors at any time, the magnetic attraction force serves to stop the rotors. The brake device constituted by the magnetic force conversion means differs from an ordinary brake device which forcibly stops a pair or rotors by using a frictional force. In the brake device of this invention, by converting a magnetic repulsion force to a magnetic attraction force, the rotors can be braked in the state that the movement of the rotors is reduced. Thus, the rotors can be stopped effectively. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a magnetic rotation apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between the first and second rotors; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a permanent magnet; FIG. 4 shows an electromagnet, a permanent magnet cooperating with the electromagnet, and a driving circuit the electromagnet; and FIG. 5 is a view for explaining how a pair of rotors rotate. BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION FIG. 1 shows a magnetic rotation apparatus embodying the present invention. The magnetic rotation apparatus has frame 1. Frame 1 is provided with a pair of rotation shafts 2 which extend vertically and in parallel to each other. Shafts 2 are located at a predetermined distance from each other. Upper and lower ends of each shaft 2 are rotationally supported on frame 1 via bearing 3. First rotor 4a is mounted on one of rotation shafts 2, second rotor 4b is mounted on the other rotation shaft 2. First and second rotors 4a and 4b are arranged on the same level. Rotors 4a and 4b have similar structures. For example, each rotor 4a (4b) comprises two ring-shaped plates 5 which are spaced apart from each other in the axial direction of the rotation shaft 2. Gears 6a and 6b made of synthetic resin are, as cooperating means, attached to lower surfaces of first and second rotors 4a and 4b. The diameters of gears 6a and 6b are identical but larger than those of rotors 4a and 4b. Gears 6a and 6b mesh with each other. First and second rotors 4a and 4b are thus rotatable in opposite directions in a cooperating manner. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 7 indicates support arms for supporting first and second rotors 4a and 4b.
For example, 16 magnets are arranged at regular intervals on a peripheral portion of first rotor 4a. These magnets are secured between two ring-shaped plates 5. In this embodiment, among the 16 magnets, one is electromagnet 9a (see FIG. 2), and the others are permanent magnets 8a. FIG. 2 shows only some of permanent magnets 8a. As shown in FIG. 3, permanent magnet 8a comprises case 10, and a plurality of rod-like ferromagnetic members 11 housed in case 10. Ferromagnetic member 11 is, for example, a ferrite magnet. Ferromagnetic members 11 of each permanent magnet 8a are arranged such that ferromagnetic members 11 have the same polarity at one end. In first rotor 4a, for example, an N-polarity end portion of each permanent magnet 8a faces radially outward, and an S-polarity end portion of magnet 8a faces radially inward. As shown in FIG. 2, when each permanent magnet 8a is located between two shafts 2, angle C formed by longitudinal axis A of magnet 8a and imaginary line B connecting two shafts 2 is, for example, set to 30.degree. C. On the other hand, electromagnet 9a is, as shown in FIG. 4, constituted by U-shaped iron core 12, and coil 13 wound around core 12. Electromagnet 9a is arranged such that both N- and S-polarity end portions face radially outward of first rotor 4a, and the above-mentioned angle C is formed, similarly to the case of permanent magnet 8a. The same number of permanent magnets (8b,9b) as the total number of all permanent magnets and electromagnet (8a,9a) of first rotor 4a are secured on a peripheral portion of second rotor 4b at regular intervals. In FIG. 2, when first and second rotors 4a and 4b are rotated in opposite directions, each permanent magnet of second rotor 4b periodically moves toward and away from the corresponding one of the magnets (8a,9a) of first rotor 4a. The permanent magnets (8b,9b) of second rotor 4b will now be described in greater detail. Permanent magnets 8b of second rotor 4b, which periodically move toward and away from permanent magnets 8a of first rotor 4a in accordance with the rotation of rotors 4a and 4b, have a structure similar to that of permanent magnets 8a of first rotor 4a. The polarity of that end portion of each permanent magnet 8b which is located radially outward from second rotor 4b, is identical with that of the end portion of each permanent magnet 8a of first rotor 4a. That is, the radially outward portion of each permanent magnet 8b has an N-polarity. Permanent magnet 9b of second rotor 4b, which periodically moves toward and away from electromagnet 9a of first rotor 4a, has a structure shown in FIG. 4. Permanent magnet 9b has a structure similar to that of permanent magnets 8a. Both polarities of electromagnet 9a face radially outward from first rotor 4a. Permanent magnet 9b has two different polarities which face radially outward from second rotor 4b and correspond to both polarities of electromagnet 9a. As shown in FIG. 2, when each permanent magnet 8b,9b is located between two rotation shafts 2, angle E formed by longitudinal axis D of the magnet (8b,9b) and imaginary line B connecting two shafts 2 is, for example, set to 56.degree. C. In addition, when rotors 4a and 4b are rotated in opposite directions, as shown by arrows, the magnets (8a,9a) of first rotor 4a move a little ahead of the corresponding permanent magnets (8b,9b) of second rotor 4b, in a region in which both magnets (8a,9a; 8b,9b) approach one another. In other words, the phase of rotation of the magnets (8a,9a) of first rotor 4a advances by a predetermined angle in relation to the permanent magnets (8b,9b) of second rotor 4b. As shown in FIG. 4, electromagnet 9a of first rotor 4a is electrically connected to drive circuit 14. Drive circuit 14 includes a power source for supplying an electric current to coil 13 of electromagnet 9a. While rotors 4a and 4b rotate, drive circuit turns on electromagnet 9a upon receiving a signal from first sensor 15 only when electromagnet 9a and permanent magnet 9b are in a first region in which they periodically approach each other. First sensor 15 is an optical sensor comprising a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element. As shown in FIG. 1, first sensor 15 is attached to a portion of frame 1 above first rotor 4a. First sensor 15 emits light in a downward direction. The light is reflected by reflection plate 16 projecting radially inward from the inner edge of first rotor 4a. First sensor 15 receives the reflected light, and feeds a signal to drive circuit 14. Thus, drive circuit 14 turns on electromagnet 9a. The circumferential length of reflection plate 16 is equal to that of the above-mentioned first region. When magnets 9a and 9b enter the first region, first sensor 15 is turned on, and when they leave the first region, first sensor 15 is turned off. When drive circuit 14 receives a signal from first sensor 15, it excites electromagnet 9a such that both polarities of electromagnet 9a correspond to those of permanent magnet 9b of second rotor 4b. Drive circuit 14 is electrically connected to switching circuit 17. When brake switch 18 is operated, switching circuit 17 reverses the direction in which an electric current is supplied to electromagnet 9a. When the current supplying direction of drive circuit 14 is reversed, drive circuit 14 excites electromagnet 9a only in a time period in which drive circuit 14 receives a signal from second sensor 19. Second sensor 19 has a structure similar to that of first sensor 15, and is attached to frame 1 so as to be located closer to the center of rotor 4a than first sensor 15. Reflection plate 20, which corresponds to the position of second sensor 19, is formed integral to an inner edge portion of reflection plate 16. As shown in FIG. 2, compared to reflection plate 16, reflection plate 20 extends in rotational direction of first rotor 4a, indicated by the arrow. The operation of the above-described magnetic rotation apparatus will now be explained with reference to FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, rotation shaft 2 of first rotor 4a is denoted by 01, and rotation shaft 2 of second rotor 4b is denoted by 02. Only the radially outward polarity, that is, N-polarity, of the magnets of rotors 4a and 4b is shown, for the sake of convenience. Although electromagnet 9a and permanent magnet 9b have both polarities located radially outward, only the N-polarity thereof is shown. When first and second rotors 4a and 4b are put in a position shown in FIG. 5, magnetic pole Nb1 of one permanent magnet of second rotor 4b is located in a line connecting shafts 01 and 02. In this case, polarity Na1 of first rotor 4a, which is paired with polarity Nb1, is a little advanced from polarity Nb1 in the rotational direction of first rotor 4a. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, magnetic pole Na1 is advanced from polarity Nb1 by an angle of X.degree.. Polarities Na1 and Nb1 exert repulsion force F1 upon each other along line L. Supposing that an angle, formed by line M, which is drawn from shaft 01 perpendicularly to line L, and the line connecting shafts 01 and 02 is represented by Y, and that the length of line K is represented by R, torques Ta1 and Tb1 caused by repulsion force F1 to rotate first and second rotors 4a and 4b can be given by: Ta1=F1.multidot.R.multidot.cos (Y-X)
Tb1=F1.multidot.R.multidot.cos Y Since cos (Y-X)>cos Y, Ta1>Tb1.
As shown in FIG. 5, since magnetic pole Na1 is advanced from magnetic pole Nb1 by angle X.degree., first rotor 4a receives a greater torque than second rotor 4b. Thus, first rotor 4a forwardly rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5. Mention is now made of paired magnets of rotors 4a and 4b in the vicinity of magnetic poles Na1 and Nb1. Magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1 of first rotor 4a are advanced ahead of magnetic pole Nal in the rotational direction. Magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1 receive a torque produced by a repulsion force acting between magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1 and corresponding magnetic poles Nbn and Nbn-1. In FIG. 5, magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1 receive a smaller torque, as they rotate farther from the location of magnetic pole Na1. It is well known that a torque of first rotor 4a, which is caused by a repulsion force acting on magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1, is decreased in inverse proportion to the square of the distance between paired magnetic poles Na and Nb.
Magnetic poles Na2 and Na3, behind magnetic pole Na1, receive a torque which tends to rotate rotor 4a in the reverse direction. This torque is considered to be counterbalanced with the torque acting on magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1. In FIG. 5, attention should be paid to the region of magnetic poles Na1 and Na2. As first rotor 4a forwardly rotates, the direction in which a torque applies to magnetic pole Na2, is changed from the reverse direction to the forward direction, before magnetic pole Na2 reaches the position of magnetic pole Na1. The torque for forwardly rotating rotor 4a is larger than that for reversely rotating rotor 4a. Therefore, first rotor 4a is easily rotated in the direction shown in FIG. 2. Second rotor 4b is considered to receive a torque in a direction reverse to the direction shown in FIG. 2, as seen from the description of first rotor 4a. It is obvious that second rotor 4b receives a maximum torque at the position of magnetic pole Nb1. As seen from the above formula, torque Tb1 applied to second rotor 4b in a direction reverse to that denoted by the arrow is smaller than torque Ta1 applied to first rotor 4a in the forward direction. The rotation of first rotor 4a is transmitted to second rotor 4b through gears 6a and 6b. By determining the relationship between the strengths of torques Ta1 and Tb1, second rotor 4b is thus rotated in a direction reverse to the rotational direction of first rotor 4a, against the torque applied to second rotor in the direction. As a result, first and second rotors 4a and 4b are kept rotating, since a torque for rotating rotors 4a and 4b in a cooperating manner is produced each time magnetic poles Na of first rotor 4a pass across the line connecting shafts 01 and 02. In a diagram shown in the right part of FIG. 5, a solid line indicates a torque applied to first rotor 4a, and a broken line indicates a torque applied to second rotor 4b. The ordinate indicates a distance between each magnetic pole and the line connecting shafts 01 and 02 of rotors 4a and 4b. The first region in which electromagnet 9a of first rotor 4a is turned on is set in a range of Z during which a torque is applied to first rotor 4a in the forward direction. In order to stop the cooperative rotation of rotors 4a and 4b, brake switch is turned on to operate switching circuit 17. Thus, the direction in which drive circuit 14 supplies a current to electromagnet 9a is reversed. The polarities of electromagnet 9a are reversed. The torque applied to electromagnet 9a in the forward direction is stopped. When electromagnet 9a approaches permanent magnet 9b, a magnetic attract:on force is produced. As a result, the rotation of rotors 4a and 4b is effectively slowed down and stopped. Since the second region, in which electromagnet 9a is excited, is larger than the first region, a large braking force can be obtained from a magnetic attraction force. In the above embodiment, since electromagnet 9a is excited only in a specific region, a large electric power is not required. In addition, since electromagnet 9a rotates and brakes rotors 4a and 4b, a braking mechanism for a magnetic rotation apparatus can be obtained without having to make the entire structure of the apparatus complex. The present invention is not restricted to the above embodiment. With the exception of the paired electromagnet and permanent magnet, all permanent magnets of the rotors are arranged such that their end portions of the same polarity face radially outward from the rotors. However, it is possible that the polarities of the radially outward end portions of the permanent magnets are alternately changed. Namely, it should suffice if the polarities of the radially outward end portions of the first rotor are identical to those of the corresponding radially outward end portions of the second rotor. The magnets may have different magnetic forces. Furthermore, an electric power for exciting the electromagnet can be derived from the rotation of the rotors or from the revolving magnetic field of the permanent magnet.
Angles C and E are not restricted to 30.degree. and 56.degree.. They may be freely determined in consideration of the strength of the magnetic force of the permanent magnet, a minimum distance between adjacent magnets, angle x, and the like. The number of magnets of the rotor is also freely chosen.
Industrial Applicability ~ As described above, the magnetic rotation apparatus of the present invention can be used as a driving source in place of an electric motor, and as an electric generator. US Patent # 5,594,289 (Cl. 310/152) Magnetic Rotating Apparatus (January 14, 1997) Kohei Minato Abstract --- On a rotor which is fixed to a rotatable rotating shaft, a plurality of permanent magnets are disposed along the direction of rotation such that the same magnetic pole type thereof face outward. In the same way, balancers are disposed on the rotor for balancing the rotation of this rotor. Each of the permanent magnets is obliquely arranged with respect to the radial direction line of the rotor. At the outer periphery of the rotor, an electromagnet is disposed facing this rotor, with this electromagnet intermittently energized based on the rotation of the rotor. According to the magnetic rotating apparatus of the present invention, rotational energy can be efficiently obtained from permanent magnets. This is made possible by minimizing as much as possible current supplied to the electromagnets, so that only a required amount of electrical energy is supplied to the electromagnets. Claims --- [ Claims not included here ] Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic rotating apparatus, and more particularly, to a magnetic rotating apparatus which utilizes repulsive forces produced between a permanent magnet and an electromagnet.
2. Description of the Prior Art In a conventional electric motor, an armature as a rotor consists of turns of wires, and electric field as a stator consists of a permanent magnet. In such the conventional electric motor, however, current must be usually supplied to windings of the armature which is rotated. When the current is supplied, heat is generated, which gives rise to the problem that not much driving force is efficiently generated. This, in turn, gives wise to the problem that the magnetic forces cannot be efficiently obtained from the permanent magnet. In addition, in the conventional electric motor, since the armature is so constructed as consisting of the windings, the moment of inertia cannot be made very high, so that enough torque cannot be obtained. To overcome the above-described problems of such the conventional electric motor, the inventor proposed, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61868/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,486) a magnetic rotating apparatus in which a plurality of the permanent magnets are disposed along the two rotors, respectively, at a predetermined angle, and in which an electromagnet is disposed at one of the rotors. In a generally constructed conventional electric motor, there is a limit as to how much the efficiency of energy conversion can be increased. In addition, the torque of the electric motor cannot be made high enough. For the above reasons, hitherto, various improvements have been made on existing electric motors, without any success in producing an electric motor so constructed has providing satisfactory characteristics. In the magnetic rotating apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6868/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,486) a pair of rotors is rotated. Therefore, it is necessary for each of the rotors to have high precision, and in addition, measures must be taken for easier rotation control. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-described problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic rotating apparatus in which rotational energy can be efficiently obtained from the permanent magnet with a minimum amount of electrical energy, and in which rotation control can be carried out relatively easily. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic rotating apparatus comprising a rotating shaft; a rotor which is fixed to the rotating shaft and which has disposed thereon permanent magnet means and means for balancing rotation, the permanent magnet means being disposed such that a plurality of magnetic poles of one (or first) polarity type is arranged along an outer peripheral surface in the direction of rotation, and a plurality of magnetic poles of the other (or second) polarity type arranged along an inner peripheral surface, with each pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities obliquely arranged with respect to a radial line; electromagnet means, which is disposed facing this rotor, for developing a magnetic field which faces the magnetic field of the permanent magnet means of the rotor and detecting means for detecting rotating position of the rotor to allow the electromagnet means to be energized. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic rotating apparatus comprising a rotating shaft a rotor which is fixed to the rotating shaft and which has disposed thereon a plurality of permanent magnets and balancers for balancing rotation, the permanent magnets being disposed such that one magnetic polarity type is arranged along an outer peripheral surface in the direction of rotation and the other magnetic polarity type arranged along an inner peripheral surface, with each pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities obliquely arranged with respect to a radial line; an electromagnet, which is disposed facing this rotor, for developing a magnetic field which produces the other magnetic polarity type on the facing surface; and energizing means for intermittently energizing the electromagnet means from where the leading permanent magnet, based on the rotation of the rotor, passes the facing surface of the electromagnet in the direction of rotation. According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided magnetic rotating apparatus comprising a rotating shaft; a first rotor which is fixed to the rotating shaft and which has disposed thereon permanent magnet means and means for balancing rotation, the permanent magnet means being disposed such that a plurality of magnetic poles of the second polarity type is arranged along an outer peripheral surface in the direction of rotation, and a plurality of magnetic poles of the first pole type arranged along an inner peripheral surface, with each pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities obliquely arranged with respect to a radial line; a second rotor which rotates along with the first rotor and is fixed to the rotating shaft, having disposed thereon a plurality of permanent magnets and balancers for balancing rotation, the permanent magnets being disposed such that one magnetic polarity type is arranged along an outer peripheral surface in the direction of rotation and the other magnetic polarity type arranged along an inner peripheral surface, with each pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities obliquely arranged with respect to a radial line a first and a second electromagnet means, which are magnetically connected and disposed facing the first and second rotors, respectively, for developing a magnetic field which faces the magnetic field of the permanent magnet means of the first and second rotors; and detecting means for detecting rotating position of the rotors to allow the electromagnet means to be energized. The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a magnetic rating apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention FIG. 2 is a side view of the magnetic rotating apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a plan view of a rotor of the magnetic rotating apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating a circuit in the magnetic rotating apparatus shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a magnetic field distribution formed between the rotor and the electromagnet of the magnetic rotating apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory view illustrating a torque which causes rotation of the rotor of the magnetic rotating apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The magnetic field developed by an electromagnet means and that of a permanent magnet means of a rotor repel each other. In addition, the magnetic field of the permanent magnet means is flattened by the magnetic fields of other nearby permanent magnets and electromagnet means. Therefore, a torque is produced therebetween to efficiently rotate the rotor. Since the rotor has a high inertial force, when the rotor starts rotating, its speed increases by the inertial force and the turning force. A magnetic rotating apparatus related to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the following drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of a magnetic rotating apparatus related to one embodiment of the present invention. In the specification, the term "magnetic rotating apparatus" will include an electric motor, and from its general meaning of obtaining turning force from the magnetic forces of permanent magnets, it will refer to a rotating apparatus utilizing the magnetic forces. As shown in FIG. 1, in the magnetic rotating apparatus related to one embodiment of the present invention, a rotating shaft 4 is rotatably fixed to a frame 2 with bearings 5. To the rotating shaft 4, there are fixed a first magnet rotor 6 and a second magnet rotor 8, both of which produce turning forces and a rotated body 10, which has mounted therealong a plurality of rod-shaped magnets 9 for obtaining the turning forces as energy. They are fixed in such a manner as to be rotatable with the rotating shaft 4. At the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8, there are provided, as will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first electromagnet 12 and a second electromagnet 14 respectively are energized in synchronism with rotations of the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8, both of which face each other and are each disposed in a magnetic gap. The first and second electromagnets 12 and 14 are respectively mounted to a yoke 16, which forms a magnetic path. As shown in FIG. 3, the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8 each have disposed on its disk-shaped surface a plurality of tabular magnets 22A through 22H for developing a magnetic field for generating the turning forces and balancers 20A through 20H, made of non-magnetic substances, for balancing the magnet rotors 6 and 8. In the embodiments, the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8 each have disposed along the disk-shaped surface 24 at equal intervals the eight tabular magnets 22A through 22H along half of the outer peripheral area and +the eight balancers 20A through 20H along the other half of the outer peripheral area.
As shown in FIG. 3, each of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H are disposed so that its longitudinal axis 1 makes an angle D with respect to a radial axis line 11 of the disk-shaped surface 24. In the embodiment, an angle of 30 degrees and 56 degrees have been confirmed for the angle D. An appropriate angle, however, can be set depending on the radius of the disk-shaped surface 24 and the number of tabular magnets 22A through 22H to be disposed on the disk-shaped surface 24. As illustrated in FIG. 2, from the viewpoint of effective use of the magnetic field, it is preferable that the tabular magnets 22A through 22H on the first magnet rotor 6 are positioned so that their N-poles point outward, while the tabular magnets 22A through 22H on the second magnet rotor 8 are positioned so that their S-poles point outward. Exterior to the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8, the first and second electromagnets 12 and 14 are disposed facing the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8 respectively in the magnetic gap. When the first and second electromagnets 12 and 14 are energized, they develop a magnetic field identical in polarity to the their respective tabular magnets 22A through 22H so that they repel one anther. In other words, as shown in FIG. 2, since the tabular magnets 22A through 22H on the first magnet rotor 6 have their N-poles facing outwards, the first electromagnet 12 is energized so that the side facing the first magnet rotor 6 develops an N-polarity. In a similar way, since the tabular magnets 22A through 22H on the second magnet rotor 8 have their S-poles facing outwards, the second electromagnet 14 is energized so that the side facing the tabular magnets 22A through 22H develops a S-polarity. The first and second electromagnets 12 and 14, which are magnetically connected by the yoke 16, are magnetized so that the sides facing their respective magnet rotors 6 and 8 are opposite in polarity with respect to each other. This means that the magnetic fields of the electromagnets 12 and 14 can be used efficiently. A detector 30, such as microswitch, is provided to either one of the first magnet rotor 6 or second magnet rotor 8 to detect the rotating position of the magnet rotors 6 and 8. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, in a rotational direction 32 of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, the first and the second magnet rotors 6 and 8 are respectively energized when the leading tabular 22A has passed. In other words, in the rotational direction 32, the electromagnet 12 or 14 is energized when starting point So, located between the leading tabular magnet 22A and the following tabular magnet 22B coincides with the center point Ro of either the electromagnet 12 or 14. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in the rotational direction 32 of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, the first and the second magnet rotors 6 and 8 are de-energized when the last tabular magnet 22A has passed. In the embodiment, an end point Eo is set symmetrical to the starting point So on the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. When the end point Eo coincides with the center point Ro of either the electromagnet 12 or 14, the electromagnet 12 or 14 is de-energized, respectively. As will be described later, with the center point Ro of the electromagnet 12 or 14 arbitrarily set between the starting point So and the end point Eo, the magnet rotors 6 and 8 start to rotate when the electromagnets 12 and 14 and their tabular magnets 22A through 22H face one another. When a microswitch is used as the detector 30 for detecting the rotating position, the contact point of the microswitch is allowed to slide along the surface of the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. A step is provided for the starting point So and the end point Eo so that the contact of the microswitch closes between the starting point So and the end point Eo. The area along the periphery therebetween protrudes beyond the other peripheral areas of the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. It is apparent that a photo sensor or the like may be used instead of the microswitch as the detector 30 for detecting the rotating position. As shown in FIG. 4, the windings of the electromagnets 12 and 14 are connected to a DC power source 42 through a movable contact of a relay 40, which is connected in series with the windings. A series circuit containing the relay 40 (solenoid) and the detector 30 or microswitch is connected to the DC power source 42. In addition, from the viewpoint of energy conservation, a charger 44 such as a solar cell is connected to the DC power source 42. It is preferable that the DC power source 42 is constantly chargeable using solar energy or the like. In the magnetic rotating apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a magnetic field distribution shown in FIG. 5 is formed between the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, disposed on each of the magnet rotors 6 and 8, and the electromagnets 12 and 14 which face them, respectively. When the electromagnet 12 or 14 is energized, a magnetic field of a tabular magnet of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, adjacent to the electromagnet 12 or 14, is distorted in the longitudinal direction in correspondence with the rotational direction. This results in the generation of a repulsive force therebetween. As is apparent from the distortion of the magnetic field, the repulsive force has a larger component in the longitudinal or perpendicular direction, and produces a torque, as shown by an arrow 32. Similarly, a magnetic field of a tabular magnet of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, which next enters the magnetic field of the electromagnet 12 or 14, is distorted. the repulsive force produced between the tabular magnets of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, which have already entered the magnetic field of the electromagnets, a repulsive force operates between both of the poles M and M' of the tabular magnet at the rotating side and the electromagnet at the stationary side, respectively. Therefore, from the relationship illustrated in FIG. 6, an angular torque T is generated based on the formula: T=F. a.cos (.alpha.-.beta.), where in a is a constant. The angular torque starts the rotation of the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. After the rotating disk-shaped surface 24 has started rotating, its rotating speed gradually increases due to an inertial moment thereof, which allows a large turning driving force to be produced. After a stable rotation of the rotating disk-shaped surface 24 has been produced, when a necessary electromotive force can be developed in an electromagnetic coil (not illustrated) by externally bringing it near a rotated body 10 to be rotated along with the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. This electric power can be used for other applications. This rotating principle is based on the rotating principle of the magnetic rotating apparatus already disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61868/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,486) by the inventor. That is, even if an electromagnet, provided for one of the rotors of the magnetic rotating apparatus disclosed in the same Patent Application, is fixed, it is rotated in accordance with the rotating principle disclosed therein. For details, refer to the above Japanese Patent Publication No. 61868/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,486).
The number of tabular magnets 22A through 22H is not limited to "8" as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Any number of magnets may be used. In the above-described embodiment, although the tabular magnets 22A through 22H are disposed along half of the peripheral area of the disk-shaped surface 24, and the balancers 20A through 20H are disposed along the other half of the peripheral area, the tabular magnets may further be disposed along other areas of the disk-shaped surface 24. It is preferable that balancers, in addition to magnets, are provided along a portion of the peripheral area on the disk-shaped surface. The counter weights, which do not need to be formed into separate blocks, may be formed into one sheet of plate which extends on the outer peripheral area of the disk-shaped surface. In addition, in the above-described embodiments, while the construction is such as to allow the electromagnets to be energized for a predetermined period of time for every rotation of the rotating disk-shaped surface, the circuit may be so constructed as to allow, upon increased number of rotations, energization of the electromagnets for every rotation of the rotating disk-shaped surface, starting from its second rotation onwards. Further, in the above-described embodiment, a tabular magnet has been used for the permanent magnet, but other types of permanent magnets may also be used. In effect, any type of magnet may be used as the permanent magnet means as long as a plurality of magnetic poles of one type is disposed along the outer surface of the inner periphery and a plurality of magnetic poles of the other type are disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the disk-shaped surface, so that a pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities is obliquely arranged, with respect to the radial line 11, as shown in FIG. 3. Although the tabular magnets 22A through 22H are mounted on the magnet rotors 6 and 8 in the above embodiment, they may be electromagnets. In this case, the electromagnets 12 and 14 may be the alternative of electromagnets or permanent magnets.
According to the magnetic rotating apparatus of the present invention, rotational energy can be efficiently obtained from permanent magnets. This is made possible by minimizing as much as possible current supplied to the electromagnets, so that only a required amount of electrical energy is supplied to the electromagnets. It should be understood that many modifications and adaptations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art and it is intended to encompass such obvious modifications and changes in the scope of the claims appended hereto. KeelyNet: BBS Posting from Henry Curtis (11-18-1997)
Korean Magnetic Perpetual Motion Wheel I must apologize for not having all the details of this interesting device but will update the file when I get more info from the source. In email communications with John Schnurer, I happened to mention it and he's been on me since then to send him a diagram, yet I felt like it would simply be confusing because its operation is not clear or readily apparent from the information I had.The information that I have comes directly from long time friend Henry Curtis of Colorado. We both attended the 1997 ISNE conference in Denver and Henry was telling about this interesting machine he had seen while on a trip to the Phillipines. He said there was a free energy conference held there and he noticed a spinning bicycle wheel that was attached to a stand that sat on a table.The wheel was running when he first saw it, yet there did not appear to be any driving force such as a motor, belts, gears, etc..Henry said he watched it for quite awhile and it never stopped running. On expressing curiosity about the wheel, he was invited to stop it and start it up without any outside assistance.Henry reports the wheel was brought to a complete stop, then he gave it a spin with his hand and it began moving on its own. I am uncertain if it followed the tendency of other such devices to establish its own speed. Some devices like this can be spun up to high speed from an outside source, then will slow to a speed which is determined by the geometry and strength of the repelling or attracting forces that operate it.Henry swears it was the neatest thing he'd ever seen and drew a crude diagram of the arrangement on my notepad. Unfortunately, we were a bit rushed and I did not achieve a complete understanding of how it operated. That is why I did not want to blow smoke about it until more detail had been received, god knows, we don't need any more of that.However, perhaps someone can figure it out from the limited information I do have. The following drawing shows the wheel arrangement, one half was weighted, the other half had slanted magnets. I do not know whether they are all repelling, attracting or a mix of these forces. As you can imagine, the weight of the magnets must equal the weight of the other half of the wheel to balance out. Apparently the force of the magnetic repulsion or attaction provides the actual imbalance.Henry also said there was a patent on this device that is dated January 14, 1997. The inventor is a Japanese man named Minatu. The spelling of this name is uncertain. I did a search on the IBM server but found nothing even remote. Henry specifically said this was a United States patent. So, here it is. Perhaps Henry can come up with some more detail which can be used to update this file in future. Good luck.... KeelyNet: Update and Corrections from Henry Curtis (Wed, 19 Nov 1997) ~
From: Henry Curtis ~ To: Jerry Decker Subject: Bicycle wheel correction and update Jerry, Again we see that communication is difficult and memories are fallable. Obviously I am remiss in not having sent this to you months ago as I intended to, but as a sage of old observed "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is slow." During the first weekend of May, 1997, a group in Soeul, Korea headed up by Mr. Chi San Park, held The First International New Energy Conference in Seoul, Korea. I attended this conference and gave a talk on various approcahes to free energy. It was at this conference in Seoul, Korea that I saw the bicycle wheel and had the opportunity to work with it unattended by anyone else.The inventor is Kohei Minato, a Japanese rock musician, who reports that he has spent a million dollars out of his own pocket developing magnetic motors, because the world needs a better source of energy. He has several patents in various countries. His latest patent that I am aware of is United States Patent # 5,594,289. His development efforts have gone in the general direction of the Adams motor which the above patent is similar to. He had a working prototype of this design at the conference and reported that it used 150 watts power input and produced 450 watts output on a sustained basis. About a year ago CNN (in the US) had a 10 minute segment about him and his motors. In this video he is shown demonstrating two of his magnetic motors. I have a copy of this film clip that he gave to me. I will make a copy and send it to you. Unfortunately, the editors were not attuned to technical details and the pictures of the running machines show little useful detail. The Phillipine connection that you mention is completely erroneous. It was in Korea. The drawing on the web site is essentially correct with the following exceptions. The counter weight is a single curved piece of aluminum covering 180 degrees. Each of the several individual magnets on the other half of the wheel are slightly asymmetric, crescent shaped and nested. They are magnetised end to end with the N poles out. The motor is actuated by moving the N pole of a large permanet magnet (the drive magnet) toward the wheel. As this magnet is moved toward the wheel, the wheel starts to spin. As the magnet is moved closer to the wheel it spins faster. The acceleration of the wheel is rapid. So rapid in fact, as to be startling. To put it another way I was very impressed. The motor works. And it works very well. In the film clip a slight pumping action of Minato's hand holding the magnet is apparent. When I braced my hand so that there was no pumping action, the motor still ran. In fact it seemed to run better. Pumping action by the hand held magnet is not the power that drives the motor. When the drive magnet is moved away from the wheel it coasts rather quickly to a stop and comes to rest in a manner typical of any spinning bicycle wheel. Again when the wheel is at rest and a large magnet is moved up to the wheel it starts to spin. At no time is it necessary to touch the wheel to get it to rotate. Simply bring the N pole of a large magnet several inches from the wheel. The particular orientation of the wheel when it is at rest seems to have no effect on how well it starts to turn. Irrespective of how the wheel and the magnets on it are sitting; move the drive magnet near, it starts to spin. Move the magnet closer it spins faster. Move the magnet further away it slows up. The wheel was mounted on a stand made of aluminum angle pieces bolted together similar to the diagram in the above mentioned patent. The axle of the wheel was mounted parellel to the surface of the planet. I have attached a rough diagram of the wheel. Apparently the geometry of the magnets on the wheel is very important and subtle. I have built several small models none of which have shown the free energy effects of Minato's machine. The conference in Seoul was attended by several hundred people, most appeared to be under 40 and evenly divided between men and women. Presenters were from Korea, US, Japan, and China. Simultaneous translation was provided for all talks in the 3 day conference. Jerry, I hope this information is useful. I may be contacted by e-mail at mailto:hcurtis@mindspring.com or by phone at 303.344.1458.
KeelyNet: Email from Gene Mallove at Infinite Energy ~ I spoke to Bob Vermillion of Tri-Cosmos Development (Los Angeles, CA 310-284-3250 or fax 310-284-3260) today, just before he left for the three-day demonstrations of the Minato magnetic motor being held in Mexico City, Mexico on July 8, 9, 10th.Three (3) Minato Motors (MM), covered by US Patents # 5,594,289 (Jan 14, 1997) and # 4,751,486 (June 14, 1988), have been brought over from Japan. One was allegedly tested last evening by Grupo Bufete Industrial (supposedly one of the largest power generation construction companies in Mexico and South America). The company engineers were said (by Vermillion) to have measured an output /input ratio of 4.3 / 1. The printed literature, which I received in a Fedex packet from Vermillion states that the device can put out 500 watts (maximum) with an input of 34 watts.For those of you who wonder why the device is not self-sustaining -- oral info from Vermillion is that Minato *will* in the course of one of the demonstrations *remove the battery power supply* and let the device self-run -- presumably with a load. The press release makes no bones about the physics-busting character of the MM: "As rotations per minute (rpm's) increase, the electromagnetic consumption of the stator decreases. This phenomenon is in direct conflict with accepted laws of physics and is achieved through the repelling magnetic fields. It operates without heat, noise, or pollution of any kind. It can be produced in size from ultra-small to very large." It is said in the press release that applications from cell phones to laptop computers are under development. Vermillion told me of other parties who were planning to attend the demonstrations, which will be conducted both in public displays and with private party measurements. These include: ENRON, Bechtel, Tejas (a division of Shell Oil Corporation), Fluor Daniels, Kellogg Corp. .He told me that Hal Fox of New Energy News and the Fusion Information Center will be there (I confirmed with Hal that he will be there and will give us a full report.) I considered going myself (I was invited), but I trust Hal Fox to provide a full report --
I taught biology/science for 30 years and I have, since a young boy, had faith in God. This has caused many to ask me how I have bridged the gap (so to speak) between science and, what many refer to as, religion.
I see no gap, no conflict, at all. Science is man's attempt to discover how God chooses to accomplish much of His work. As such, it has always excited me to gain even a little knowledge of God's creative process. Someday I hope to learn so much more.
About a “Traveling Artist” – Jayson Yeoh
Self-taught artist Jayson Yeoh has a passion for art since young. His pursuit for art creation is relentless and never wavers. A skilled watercolourist, he is always obsessed with the magical quality and versatility of this water media.
Over the years, through his continuous exploration and practice, Jayson has developed a distinctive personal style. His works clearly demonstrate an artistic language unique to himself.
To him, life’s surroundings and the vast nature are his best teachers. They provide him with unlimited source of inspirations and creative sparks.
Jayson loves to travel and always bring with him his sketchbooks and art tools.
Sketching while traveling becomes an important part of his travel itinerary; and is one of the main catalysts for his constant travels.
He has recorded in his sketchbooks, many beautiful artworks and sketches, notes and information, as well as countless new creative ideas!
‘Sketching while traveling’ has enabled him to walk out of the studio and his own limitations, while opened up limitless possibilities.
It also taught him valuable lessons – to observe the world, to know the world, and to create the worlds he sees through his own eyes.
‘Sketching while traveling’ is a journey for enlightenment and knowledge. It is also an alternative method to treasure a memory by in-depth understanding, both visually and audibly.
To Jayson, the ultimate objectives of traveling and sketching are not the artworks created or the opportunity to see magnificent landscapes and rivers, but his interactions with the environment and the community, his means of observing the world, and those people and things, which had touched him one way or another along the journey. They not only broadened his horizons, but also enriched his personal feelings.
Such experiences make him grow as an artist to create better works, and at the same time encourage him to keep moving towards his artistic journey.
I taught on the Historic England course, "Understanding Historic Buildings" in September. As usual I arrived in good time during the lectures on day 2, though my teaching was to start early on day 3. Rather than interrupt the lectures on arrival at St Anne's College I waited outside the seminar room where the lectures were held, in the annexe building of 48 Woodstock Road. This had been the family home of Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Mosely, 1887-1915. He had me established the atomic numbers of the chemical elements at Oxford University but was killed ion action at Gallipoli during the First World War. It might have been useful to show the students how to draw details like this.
I have been wanting to figure out how to combine a magnetic poem with another photo. I use Lightroom to process photos. I don't have PhotoShop and I'm not educated in how to use it. Last year I began using Krita to make digital paintings. It seems like a good open source editor. However, the tutorials available online are scarce and not always helpful. I have trouble learning from a video, which typically moves too quickly for me to absorb. If you've never used a transparency mask, it's hard to understand how it works.
Well, today I taught myself how to (1) add colours to the image of the poem, (2) add another photo as a transparency layer, and (3) make it more or less transparent to combine with the poem. My sense of colour and texture extends well beyond photography and is practically innate! The result is clumsy, but I'm satisfied in understanding the basic tools so I can improve.
The scene is Poplar Bluff Beach where I grew up on the north shore of Lake Erie. The photo was taken on May 10, 2008, the day of my mother's memorial gathering. She had died in February. Relatives didn't want to hold it outdoors in May because the weather was too unpredictable. But May was Mom's favourite month and I insisted. The day was still and cloudless with a high of 18C/64F, warmer than usual for early May.
Professor John Norman Collie FRSE FRS (10 September 1859 – 1 November 1942), commonly referred to as J. Norman Collie, was an English scientist, mountaineer and explorer.
He was born in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, the second of four sons to John Collie and Selina Mary Winkworth. In 1870 the family moved to Clifton, near Bristol, and John was educated initially at Windlesham in Surrey and then in 1873 at Charterhouse School. The family money had been made in the cotton trade, but in 1875 the American Civil War resulted in their financial ruin when their American stock was burnt. Collie had to leave Charterhouse and transfer to Clifton College, Bristol where he realised he was completely unsuited for the classics. He attended University College in Bristol and developed an interest in chemistry.
He earned a PhD in chemistry under Johannes Wislicenus at Würzburg in 1884. Returning to Britain, he taught three years at Cheltenham Ladies College where, according to his niece, "he was far from being a ladies' man and probably found that schoolgirls in bulk were rather more than he could stomach". He left to join University College London (UCL) as an assistant to William Ramsay. His early work was the study of phosphonium and phosphine derivatives and allied ammonium compounds. Later he made important contributions to the knowledge of dehydroacetic acid (then called dehydracetic acid), describing a number of very remarkable 'condensations,' whereby it is converted into pyridine, orcinol and naphthalene derivatives.
Collie served as Professor of Organic Chemistry at UCL from 1896 to 1913, and headed its chemistry department from 1913 to 1928. He performed important research that led to the taking of the first x-ray for diagnosing medical conditions. According to Bentley, Collie "worked with Ramsay on the inert gases, constructed the first neon lamp, proposed a dynamic structure for benzene, and discovered the first oxonium salt." The work on neon discharge lamps was conducted in 1909. The effect of glowing neon in contact with mercury was later sometimes called the Collier effect.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1888. His proposers included Alexander Crum Brown and Edmund Albert Letts. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1896.
John Morton MacKenzie (1856–1933) was a Gaelic speaking crofter from Sconser on the Island of Skye and Britain’s first professional mountain guide.
As a teenager MacKenzie worked as a pony man for Sligachan Hotel helping tourists to visit Loch Coruisk. It is believed that he first climbed Sgùrr nan Gillean at the age of ten. At 14 he made the first known ascent of Sgùrr a' Ghreadaidh with a Mr Tribe. 1887 was a productive year for MacKenzie. He is credited with the first ascent of Am Basteir with the Irish climber Henry Hart with whom he traversed most of the main ridge in two days and made the first traverse of what is now called Collie’s ledge on Sgùrr MhicChoinnich. Recently there has been a tendency to call this feature Hart's Ledge He was involved in the second ascent of the steep western side of the Inaccessible Pinnacle followed by first ascents of Sgùrr Thearlaich and Sgùrr Mhic Choinnich, a peak which was later named after him; its name being Gaelic for MacKenzie’s Peak.
When he met Norman Collie in 1886, and provided him with information on the route up Sgùrr nan Gillean, he was already an established guide. Thereafter he regularly climbed with Collie, exploring the remote, wild and largely unmapped Skye Cuillin. A strong bond of friendship developed between them. Neither seems to have been unduly interested in making money. They shared an urge to climb and explore and, as they grew older, their mutual love of fishing became increasingly important. Collie seems to have been the partner who could envisage the climbing line, while MacKenzie was normally the lead climber. Friendships across class boundaries were relatively uncommon at this time and it may have helped that both men were possessed of a deep sense of humanity.
The list of their achievements together is impressive. In 1891 they succeeded in crossing the Tearlach- Dubh gap, arguably technically the most difficult problem on the main ridge. In 1896 they made the first ascent of the outlying Sgùrr Coir’ an Lochain, probably the last summit in Britain to be climbed. Collie’s 1899 discovery of the Cioch, a remarkable rock feature on the Coire Lagan flank of Sron na Ciche was followed by his first ascent of it with MacKenzie in 1906. Since then this Skye landmark has featured in movies such as ‘’Highlander’’. In the 1997 BBC TV series on Scottish climbing, The Edge, Collie and MacKenzie's exploits were re-enacted by Alan Kimber (Collie) and John Lyall (MacKenzie)
Ken Crocket quotes Sheriff G.D. Valentine “The stalker’s cap, the loose jacket and the knickerbockers, which he wore suited the man; they seemed to grow out of him. He had the characteristics of the Highlander; the courtesy joined to self respect that are the heritage of the clans. His accent to the end smacked of the Gaelic speaker. His features were strong and embrowned by weather. He wore the old style of short beard, whiskers and moustache. Always alert, always cheerful, he was the perfect companion, but it was when the mist came swirling down on the wet rocks that his true worth was known.” [10] Crocket notes that in his career MacKenzie must have guided thousands of tourists and climbers without one recorded accident, a remarkable achievement for anyone working in such an unforgiving environment, arguably Britain’s most challenging range of hills. His achievements were recognised by the Alpine Club who made him something akin to an honorary member and mailed him their journal. MacKenzie never climbed outside Scotland.
Like Collie, John MacKenzie never married; living with two spinster sisters, a niece and a nephew on his croft where he built a house in 1912 from his income from guiding.
John MacKenzie died in 1933 at the age of 76. He is buried in the grave yard of Bracadale Free Church at Struan by Loch Harport on the west side of the island. Norman Collie wrote his obituary in the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal. Collie himself died in 1942 and, in keeping with his wishes, was buried beside his great friend.
A ten-year project to raise £320,000 of funding to erect a bronze statue and memorial to John MacKenzie and Norman Collie on Skye was expected to be realised in 2017. Designed by sculptor, Stephen Tinney, it was positioned and unveiled on a rocky knoll opposite the Sligachan Hotel, overlooking the Cuillin Hills in Sept 2020.
Sligachan is a small settlement on Skye, Scotland. It is close to the Cuillin mountains and provides a good viewpoint for seeing the Black Cuillin mountains.
Sligachan is situated at the junction of the roads from Portree, Dunvegan, and Broadford. The hotel was built at this road junction around 1830. Many early climbers chose this as a spot to start ascents of the Cuillin. Today there is also a campsite and bunkhouse adjacent to the hotel. There is also a small microbrewery which is operated in the same building as the hotel.
Tradition has it that the Lord of the Isles attacked Skye in 1395, but William MacLeod met the MacDonalds at Sligachan and drove them back to Loch Eynort (Ainort). There they found that their galleys had been moved offshore by the MacAskills and every invader was killed. The spoils were divided at Creag an Fheannaidh ('Rock of the Flaying') or Creggan ni feavigh ('Rock of the Spoil'), sometimes identified with the Bloody Stone in Harta Corrie below the heights of Sgurr nan Gillean.
The Sligachan Old Bridge was built between 1810 and 1818 by engineer Thomas Telford. The bridge is for pedestrians and cyclists only following construction of a new road bridge parallel to it on the A87. It was listed as a Category B and scheduled in 1971 and 1974, respectively. Historic Environment Scotland de-scheduled the bridge in 2016 (the listing remains in place).
The Isle of Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the country. Although Sgitheanach has been suggested to describe a winged shape, no definitive agreement exists as to the name's origins.
The island has been occupied since the Mesolithic period, and over its history has been occupied at various times by Celtic tribes including the Picts and the Gaels, Scandinavian Vikings, and most notably the powerful integrated Norse-Gaels clans of MacLeod and MacDonald. The island was considered to be under Norwegian suzerainty until the 1266 Treaty of Perth, which transferred control over to Scotland. The 18th-century Jacobite risings led to the breaking-up of the clan system and later clearances that replaced entire communities with sheep farms, some of which involved forced emigrations to distant lands. Resident numbers declined from over 20,000 in the early 19th century to just under 9,000 by the closing decade of the 20th century. Skye's population increased by 4% between 1991 and 2001. About a third of the residents were Gaelic speakers in 2001, and although their numbers are in decline, this aspect of island culture remains important.
The main industries are tourism, agriculture, fishing, and forestry. Skye is part of the Highland Council local government area. The island's largest settlement is Portree, which is also its capital, known for its picturesque harbour. Links to various nearby islands by ferry are available, and since 1995, to the mainland by a road bridge. The climate is mild, wet, and windy. The abundant wildlife includes the golden eagle, red deer, and Atlantic salmon. The local flora is dominated by heather moor, and nationally important invertebrate populations live on the surrounding sea bed. Skye has provided the locations for various novels and feature films, and is celebrated in poetry and song.
A Mesolithic hunter-gatherer site dating to the seventh millennium BC at An Corran in Staffin is one of the oldest archaeological sites in Scotland. Its occupation is probably linked to that of the rock shelter at Sand, Applecross, on the mainland coast of Wester Ross, where tools made of a mudstone from An Corran have been found. Surveys of the area between the two shores of the Inner Sound and Sound of Raasay have revealed 33 sites with potentially Mesolithic deposits. Finds of bloodstone microliths on the foreshore at Orbost on the west coast of the island near Dunvegan also suggest Mesolithic occupation. These tools probably originated from the nearby island of Rùm. Similarly, bloodstone from Rum, and baked mudstone, from the Staffin area, were found at the Mesolithic site of Camas Daraich, also from the seventh millennium BC, on the Point of Sleat, which has led archaeologists to believe that Mesolithic people on Skye would travel fairly significant distances, at least 70 km, both by land and sea.
Rubha an Dùnain, an uninhabited peninsula to the south of the Cuillin, has a variety of archaeological sites dating from the Neolithic onwards. A second- or third-millennium BC chambered cairn, an Iron Age promontory fort, and the remains of another prehistoric settlement dating from the Bronze Age are nearby. Loch na h-Airde on the peninsula is linked to the sea by an artificial "Viking" canal that may date from the later period of Norse settlement. Dun Ringill is a ruined Iron Age hill fort on the Strathaird Peninsula, which was further fortified in the Middle Ages and may have become the seat of Clan MacKinnon.
The late Iron Age inhabitants of the northern and western Hebrides were probably Pictish, although the historical record is sparse. Three Pictish symbol stones have been found on Skye and a fourth on Raasay. More is known of the kingdom of Dál Riata to the south; Adomnán's life of Columba, written shortly before 697, portrays the saint visiting Skye (where he baptised a pagan leader using an interpreter) and Adomnán himself is thought to have been familiar with the island. The Irish annals record a number of events on Skye in the later seventh and early eighth centuries – mainly concerning the struggles between rival dynasties that formed the background to the Old Irish language romance Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin.
Legendary hero Cú Chulainn is said to have trained on the Isle of Skye with warrior woman Scáthach.
The Norse held sway throughout the Hebrides from the 9th century until after the Treaty of Perth in 1266. However, apart from placenames, little remains of their presence on Skye in the written or archaeological record. Apart from the name "Skye" itself, all pre-Norse placenames seem to have been obliterated by the Scandinavian settlers. Viking heritage, with Celtic heritage is claimed by Clan MacLeod. Norse tradition is celebrated in the winter fire festival at Dunvegan, during which a replica Viking long boat is set alight.
The most powerful clans on Skye in the post–Norse period were Clan MacLeod, originally based in Trotternish, and Clan Macdonald of Sleat. The isle was held by Donald Macdonald, Lord of the Isles’ half-brother, Godfrey, from 1389 until 1401, at which time Skye was declared part of Ross. When the Donald Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, re-gained Ross after the battle of Harlaw in 1411, they added "Earl of Ross" to their lords' titles. Skye came with Ross.
Following the disintegration of the Lordship of the Isles, Clan Mackinnon also emerged as an independent clan, whose substantial landholdings in Skye were centred on Strathaird. Clan MacNeacail also have a long association with Trotternish, and in the 16th century many of the MacInnes clan moved to Sleat. The MacDonalds of South Uist were bitter rivals of the MacLeods, and an attempt by the former to murder church-goers at Trumpan in retaliation for a previous massacre on Eigg, resulted in the Battle of the Spoiling Dyke of 1578.
After the failure of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, Flora MacDonald became famous for rescuing Prince Charles Edward Stuart from the Hanoverian troops. Although she was born on South Uist, her story is strongly associated with their escape via Skye, and she is buried at Kilmuir in Trotternish. Samuel Johnson and James Boswell's visit to Skye in 1773 and their meeting with Flora MacDonald in Kilmuir is recorded in Boswell's The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. Boswell wrote, "To see Dr Samuel Johnson, the great champion of the English Tories, salute Miss Flora MacDonald in the isle of Sky, was a striking sight; for though somewhat congenial in their notions, it was very improbable they should meet here". Johnson's words that Flora MacDonald was "A name that will be mentioned in history, and if courage and fidelity be virtues, mentioned with honour" are written on her gravestone. After this rebellion, the clan system was broken up and Skye became a series of landed estates.
Of the island in general, Johnson observed:
I never was in any house of the islands, where I did not find books in more languages than one, if I staid long enough to want them, except one from which the family was removed. Literature is not neglected by the higher rank of the Hebrideans. It need not, I suppose, be mentioned, that in countries so little frequented as the islands, there are no houses where travellers are entertained for money. He that wanders about these wilds, either procures recommendations to those whose habitations lie near his way, or, when night and weariness come upon him, takes the chance of general hospitality. If he finds only a cottage he can expect little more than shelter; for the cottagers have little more for themselves but if his good fortune brings him to the residence of a gentleman, he will be glad of a storm to prolong his stay. There is, however, one inn by the sea-side at Sconsor, in Sky, where the post-office is kept.
— Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.
Skye has a rich heritage of ancient monuments from this period. Dunvegan Castle has been the seat of Clan MacLeod since the 13th century. It contains the Fairy Flag and is reputed to have been inhabited by a single family for longer than any other house in Scotland. The 18th-century Armadale Castle, once home of Clan Donald of Sleat, was abandoned as a residence in 1925, but now hosts the Clan Donald Centre. Nearby are the ruins of two more MacDonald strongholds, Knock Castle, and Dunscaith Castle (called "Fortress of Shadows"), the legendary home of warrior woman, martial arts instructor (and, according to some sources, Queen) Scáthach. Caisteal Maol, a fortress built in the late 15th century near Kyleakin and once a seat of Clan MacKinnon, is another ruin.
In the late 18th century the harvesting of kelp became a significant activity, but from 1822 onward cheap imports led to a collapse of this industry throughout the Hebrides. During the 19th century, the inhabitants of Skye were also devastated by famine and Clearances. Thirty thousand people were evicted between 1840 and 1880 alone, many of them forced to emigrate to the New World. The "Battle of the Braes" involved a demonstration against a lack of access to land and the serving of eviction notices. The incident involved numerous crofters and about 50 police officers. This event was instrumental in the creation of the Napier Commission, which reported in 1884 on the situation in the Highlands. Disturbances continued until the passing of the 1886 Crofters' Act and on one occasion 400 marines were deployed on Skye to maintain order. The ruins of cleared villages can still be seen at Lorgill, Boreraig and Suisnish in Strath Swordale, and Tusdale on Minginish.
As with many Scottish islands, Skye's population peaked in the 19th century and then declined under the impact of the Clearances and the military losses in the First World War. From the 19th century until 1975 Skye was part of the county of Inverness-shire, but the crofting economy languished and according to Slesser, "Generations of UK governments have treated the island people contemptuously" --a charge that has been levelled at both Labour and Conservative administrations' policies in the Highlands and Islands. By 1971 the population was less than a third of its peak recorded figure in 1841. However, the number of residents then grew by over 28 percent in the thirty years to 2001. The changing relationship between the residents and the land is evidenced by Robert Carruthers's remark c. 1852, "There is now a village in Portree containing three hundred inhabitants." Even if this estimate is inexact the population of the island's largest settlement has probably increased sixfold or more since then. During the period the total number of island residents has declined by 50 percent or more. The island-wide population increase of 4 percent between 1991 and 2001 occurred against the background of an overall reduction in Scottish island populations of 3 percent for the same period. By 2011 the population had risen a further 8.4% to 10,008 with Scottish island populations as a whole growing by 4% to 103,702.
Historically, Skye was overwhelmingly Gaelic-speaking, but this changed between 1921 and 2001. In both the 1901 and 1921 censuses, all Skye parishes were more than 75 percent Gaelic-speaking. By 1971, only Kilmuir parish had more than three-quarters of Gaelic speakers while the rest of Skye ranged between 50 and 74 percent. At that time, Kilmuir was the only area outside the Western Isles that had such a high proportion of Gaelic speakers. In the 2001 census Kilmuir had just under half Gaelic speakers, and overall, Skye had 31 percent, distributed unevenly. The strongest Gaelic areas were in the north and southwest of the island, including Staffin at 61 percent. The weakest areas were in the west and east (e.g. Luib 23 percent and Kylerhea 19 percent). Other areas on Skye ranged between 48 percent and 25 percent.
In terms of local government, from 1975 to 1996, Skye, along with the neighbouring mainland area of Lochalsh, constituted a local government district within the Highland administrative area. In 1996 the district was included in the unitary Highland Council, (Comhairle na Gàidhealtachd) based in Inverness and formed one of the new council's area committees. Following the 2007 elections, Skye now forms a four-member ward called Eilean a' Cheò; it is currently represented by two independents, one Scottish National Party, and one Liberal Democrat councillor.
Skye is in the Highlands and Islands electoral region and comprises a part of the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency of the Scottish Parliament, which elects one member under the first past the post basis to represent it. Kate Forbes is the current MSP for the SNP. In addition, Skye forms part of the wider Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency, which elects one member to the House of Commons in Westminster. The present MP Member of Parliament is Ian Blackford of the Scottish National Party, who took office after the SNP's sweep in the General Election of 2015. Before this, Charles Kennedy, a Liberal Democrat, had represented the area since the 1983 general election.
The ruins of an old building sit on top of a prominent hillock that overlooks a pier attended by fishing boats.
Caisteal Maol and fishing boats in Kyleakin harbour
The largest employer on the island and its environs is the public sector, which accounts for about a third of the total workforce, principally in administration, education, and health. The second-largest employer in the area is the distribution, hotels, and restaurants sector, highlighting the importance of tourism. Key attractions include Dunvegan Castle, the Clan Donald Visitor Centre, and The Aros Experience arts and exhibition centre in Portree. There are about a dozen large landowners on Skye, the largest being the public sector, with the Scottish Government owning most of the northern part of the island. Glendale is a community-owned estate in Duirinish, and the Sleat Community Trust, the local development trust, is active in various regeneration projects.
Small firms dominate employment in the private sector. The Talisker Distillery, which produces a single malt whisky, is beside Loch Harport on the west coast of the island. Torabhaig distillery located in Teangue opened in 2017 and also produces whisky. Three other whiskies—Mac na Mara ("son of the sea"), Tè Bheag nan Eilean ("wee dram of the isles") and Poit Dhubh ("black pot")—are produced by blender Pràban na Linne ("smugglers den by the Sound of Sleat"), based at Eilean Iarmain. These are marketed using predominantly Gaelic-language labels. The blended whisky branded as "Isle of Skye" is produced not on the island but by the Glengoyne Distillery at Killearn north of Glasgow, though the website of the owners, Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd., boasts a "high proportion of Island malts" and contains advertisements for tourist businesses in the island. There is also an established software presence on Skye, with Portree-based Sitekit having expanded in recent years.
Some of the places important to the economy of Skye
Crofting is still important, but although there are about 2,000 crofts on Skye only 100 or so are large enough to enable a crofter to earn a livelihood entirely from the land. In recent years, families have complained about the increasing prices for land that make it difficult for young people to start their own crofts.
Cod and herring stocks have declined but commercial fishing remains important, especially fish farming of salmon and crustaceans such as scampi. The west coast of Scotland has a considerable renewable energy potential and the Isle of Skye Renewables Co-op has recently bought a stake in the Ben Aketil wind farm near Dunvegan. There is a thriving arts and crafts sector.
The unemployment rate in the area tends to be higher than in the Highlands as a whole, and is seasonal, in part due to the impact of tourism. The population is growing and in common with many other scenic rural areas in Scotland, significant increases are expected in the percentage of the population aged 45 to 64 years.
The restrictions required by the worldwide pandemic increased unemployment in the Highlands and Islands in the summer of 2020 to 5.7%; which was significantly higher than the 2.4 percent in 2019. The rates were said to be highest in "Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross and Argyll and the Islands". A December 2020 report stated that between March (just before the effects of pandemic were noted) and December, the unemployment rate in the region increased by "more than 97%" and suggested that the outlook was even worse for spring 2021.
A report published in mid-2020 indicated that visitors to Skye added £211 million in 2019 to the island's economy before travel restrictions were imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report added that "Skye and Raasay attracted 650,000 visitors [in 2018] and supported 2,850 jobs". The government estimated that tourism in Scotland would decline by over 50% as a result of the pandemic. "Skye is highly vulnerable to the downturn in international visitors that will continue for much of 2020 and beyond", Professor John Lennon of Glasgow Caledonian University told a reporter in July 2020.
Tourism in the Highlands and Islands was negatively impacted by the pandemic, the effects of which continued into 2021. A September 2020 report stated that the region "has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to date when compared to Scotland and the UK as a whole". The industry required short-term support for "business survival and recovery" and that was expected to continue as the sector was "severely impacted for as long as physical distancing and travel restrictions". A scheme called Island Equivalent was introduced by the Scottish government in early 2021 to financially assist hospitality and retail businesses "affected by Level 3 coronavirus restrictions". Previous schemes in 2020 included the Strategic Framework Business Fund and the Coronavirus Business Support Fund.
Before the pandemic, during the summer of 2017, islanders complained about an excessive number of tourists, which was causing overcrowding in popular locations such as Glen Brittle, the Neist Point lighthouse, the Quiraing, and the Old Man of Storr. "Skye is buckling under the weight of increased tourism this year", said the operator of a self-catering cottage; the problem was most significant at "the key iconic destinations, like the Old Man of Storr and the Quiraing", he added. Chris Taylor of VisitScotland sympathised with the concerns and said that the agency was working on a long-term solution. "But the benefits to Skye of bringing in international visitors and increased spending are huge," he added.
An article published in 2020 confirmed that (before the pandemic), the Talisker Distillery and Dunvegan Castle were still overcrowded in peak periods; other areas where parking was a problem due to large crowds included "the Old Man of Storr, Kilt Rock, the Quiraing, the Fairy Pools, and Neist Point. This source also stated that Portree was "the busiest place on the island" during peak periods and suggested that some tourists might prefer accommodations in quieter areas such as "Dunvegan, Kyleakin and the Broadford and Breakish area".
Skye is linked to the mainland by the Skye Bridge, while ferries sail from Armadale on the island to Mallaig, and from Kylerhea to Glenelg, crossing the Kyle Rhea strait on the MV Glenachulish, the last turntable ferry in the world. Turntable ferries had been common on the west coast of Scotland because they do not require much infrastructure to operate, a boat ramp will suffice. Ferries also run from Uig to Tarbert on Harris and Lochmaddy on North Uist, and from Sconser to Raasay.
The Skye Bridge opened in 1995 under a private finance initiative and the high tolls charged (£5.70 each way for summer visitors) met with widespread opposition, spearheaded by the pressure group SKAT (Skye and Kyle Against Tolls). On 21 December 2004, it was announced that the Scottish Executive had purchased the bridge from its owners and the tolls were immediately removed.
Bus services run to Inverness and Glasgow, and there are local services on the island, mainly starting from Portree or Broadford. Train services run from Kyle of Lochalsh at the mainland end of the Skye Bridge to Inverness, as well as from Glasgow to Mallaig from where the ferry can be caught to Armadale.
The island's airfield at Ashaig, near Broadford, is used by private aircraft and occasionally by NHS Highland and the Scottish Ambulance Service for transferring patients to hospitals on the mainland.
The A87 trunk road traverses the island from the Skye Bridge to Uig, linking most of the major settlements. Many of the island's roads have been widened in the past forty years although there are still substantial sections of single-track road.
A modern 3 story building with a prominent frontage of numerous windows and constructed from a white material curves gently away from a green lawn in the foreground. In the background there is a tall white tower of a similar construction.
Students of Scottish Gaelic travel from all over the world to attend Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Scottish Gaelic college based near Kilmore in Sleat. In addition to members of the Church of Scotland and a smaller number of Roman Catholics, many residents of Skye belong to the Free Church of Scotland, known for its strict observance of the Sabbath.
Skye has a strong folk music tradition, although in recent years dance and rock music have been growing in popularity on the island. Gaelic folk rock band Runrig started in Skye and former singer Donnie Munro still works on the island. Runrig's second single and a concert staple is entitled Skye, the lyrics being partly in English and partly in Gaelic and they have released other songs such as "Nightfall on Marsco" that were inspired by the island. Ex-Runrig member Blair Douglas, a highly regarded accordionist, and composer in his own right was born on the island and is still based there to this day. Celtic fusion band the Peatbog Faeries are based on Skye. Jethro Tull singer Ian Anderson owned an estate at Strathaird on Skye at one time. Several Tull songs are written about Skye, including Dun Ringil, Broadford Bazaar, and Acres Wild (which contains the lines "Come with me to the Winged Isle, / Northern father's western child..." about the island itself). The Isle of Skye Music Festival featured sets from The Fun Lovin' Criminals and Sparks, but collapsed in 2007. Electronic musician Mylo was born on Skye.
The poet Sorley MacLean, a native of the Isle of Raasay, which lies off the island's east coast, lived much of his life on Skye. The island has been immortalised in the traditional song "The Skye Boat Song" and is the notional setting for the novel To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, although the Skye of the novel bears little relation to the real island. John Buchan's descriptions of Skye, as featured in his Richard Hannay novel Mr Standfast, are more true to life. I Diari di Rubha Hunis is a 2004 Italian language work of non-fiction by Davide Sapienza [it]. The international bestseller, The Ice Twins, by S K Tremayne, published around the world in 2015–2016, is set in southern Skye, especially around the settlement and islands of Isleornsay.
Skye has been used as a location for several feature films. The Ashaig aerodrome was used for the opening scenes of the 1980 film Flash Gordon. Stardust, released in 2007 and starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer, featured scenes near Uig, Loch Coruisk and the Quiraing. Another 2007 film, Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle, was shot almost entirely in various locations on the island. The Justin Kurzel adaption of Macbeth starring Michael Fassbender was also filmed on the Island. Some of the opening scenes in Ridley Scott's 2012 feature film Prometheus were shot and set at the Old Man of Storr. In 1973 The Highlands and Islands - a Royal Tour, a documentary about Prince Charles's visit to the Highlands and Islands, directed by Oscar Marzaroli, was shot partly on Skye. Scenes from the Scottish Gaelic-language BBC Alba television series Bannan were filmed on the island.
The West Highland Free Press is published at Broadford. This weekly newspaper takes as its motto An Tìr, an Cànan 's na Daoine ("The Land, the Language, and the People"), which reflects its radical, campaigning priorities. The Free Press was founded in 1972 and circulates in Skye, Wester Ross, and the Outer Hebrides. Shinty is a popular sport played throughout the island and Portree-based Skye Camanachd won the Camanachd Cup in 1990. The local radio station Radio Skye is a community based station that broadcast local news and entertainment to the Isle Of Skye and Loch Alsh on 106.2 FM and 102.7 FM.
Whilst Skye had unofficial flags in the past, including the popular "Bratach nan Daoine" (Flag of the People) design which represented the Cuillins in sky blue against a white sky symbolising the Gaelic language, land struggle, and the fairy flag of Dunvegan, the Island received its first official flag "Bratach an Eilein" (The Skye Flag) approved by the Lord Lyon after a public vote in August 2020. The design by Calum Alasdair Munro reflects the Island's Gaelic heritage, the Viking heritage, and the history of Flora MacDonald. The flag has a birlinn in the canton, and there are five oars representing the five areas of Skye, Trotternish, Waternish, Duirinish, Minginish, and Sleat. Yellow represents the MacLeods, and Blue the MacDonalds or the MacKinnons.
The Hebrides generally lack the biodiversity of mainland Britain, but like most of the larger islands, Skye still has a wide variety of species. Observing the abundance of game birds Martin wrote:
There is plenty of land and water fowl in this isle—as hawks, eagles of two kinds (the one grey and of a larger size, the other much less and black, but more destructive to young cattle), black cock, heath-hen, plovers, pigeons, wild geese, ptarmigan, and cranes. Of this latter sort I have seen sixty on the shore in a flock together. The sea fowls are malls of all kinds—coulterneb, guillemot, sea cormorant, &c. The natives observe that the latter, if perfectly black, makes no good broth, nor is its flesh worth eating; but that a cormorant, which hath any white feathers or down, makes good broth, and the flesh of it is good food; and the broth is usually drunk by nurses to increase their milk.
— Martin Martin, A Description of The Western Islands of Scotland.
Similarly, Samuel Johnson noted that:
At the tables where a stranger is received, neither plenty nor delicacy is wanting. A tract of land so thinly inhabited must have much wild-fowl; and I scarcely remember to have seen a dinner without them. The moor-game is every where to be had. That the sea abounds with fish, needs not be told, for it supplies a great part of Europe. The Isle of Sky has stags and roebucks, but no hares. They sell very numerous droves of oxen yearly to England, and therefore cannot be supposed to want beef at home. Sheep and goats are in great numbers, and they have the common domestic fowls."
— Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland.
A black sea bird with a black beak, red feet and a prominent white flash on its wing sits on a shaped stone. The stone is partially covered with moss and grass and there is an indistinct outline of a grey stone wall and water body in the background.
In the modern era avian life includes the corncrake, red-throated diver, kittiwake, tystie, Atlantic puffin, goldeneye and golden eagle. The eggs of the last breeding pair of white-tailed sea eagle in the UK were taken by an egg collector on Skye in 1916 but the species has recently been re-introduced. The chough last bred on the island in 1900. Mountain hare (apparently absent in the 18th century) and rabbit are now abundant and preyed upon by wild cat and pine marten. The rich fresh water streams contain brown trout, Atlantic salmon and water shrew. Offshore the edible crab and edible oyster are also found, the latter especially in the Sound of Scalpay. There are nationally important horse mussel and brittlestar beds in the sea lochs and in 2012 a bed of 100 million flame shells was found during a survey of Loch Alsh. Grey Seals can be seen off the Southern coast.
Heather moor containing ling, bell heather, cross-leaved heath, bog myrtle and fescues is everywhere abundant. The high Black Cuillins weather too slowly to produce soil that sustains a rich plant life, but each of the main peninsulas has an individual flora. The basalt underpinnings of Trotternish produce a diversity of Arctic and alpine plants including alpine pearlwort and mossy cyphal. The low-lying fields of Waternish contain corn marigold and corn spurry. The sea cliffs of Duirinish boast mountain avens and fir clubmoss. Minginish produces fairy flax, cats-ear, and black bog rush. There is a fine example of Brachypodium-rich ash woodland at Tokavaig in Sleat incorporating silver birch, hazel, bird cherry, and hawthorn.
The local Biodiversity Action Plan recommends land management measures to control the spread of ragwort and bracken and identifies four non-native, invasive species as threatening native biodiversity: Japanese knotweed, rhododendron, New Zealand flatworm and mink. It also identifies problems of over-grazing resulting in the impoverishment of moorland and upland habitats and a loss of native woodland, caused by the large numbers of red deer and sheep.
In 2020 Clan MacLeod chief Hugh MacLeod announced a plan to reintroduce 370,000 native trees along with beaver and red squirrel populations to the clan estates on Skye, to restore a "wet desert" landscape which had depleted from years of overgrazing.
You Taught Me To Let Go...
Used to listen when you said you would always be there.
I sit and think about all the times we had together,
and how I thought I used to love you, when you used to care.
I'd last through any weather,
but when the our storm came you left at the first sight of rain,
leaving me here
to deal with all this pain.
I sat there crying, thinking what did I do wrong,
I looked to my mother who said, "Baby stay strong,"
so I wiped my tears and begin anew,
new me, new life, and happiness without you.
Someday you'll miss me, but it will be too late for us to be.
You didn't know what you were missing,
but now you do, calling me crying saying, "Baby, I love you."
I love you too; that's why I'm letting you go.
I'm a hell of a good woman.
It's too bad it took you this long to know.
What we had is in the past, it's a reason we didn't last,
but whenever you get discouraged about why we're through,
just look in the mirror
because it's all on you...
I hope next time you learn from your mistakes,
and when that girl needs you do whatever it takes.
always remember this, I love you, but I love me more.
I had to learn that when you walked out the door...
Taught to fear the beasts in a small town. I quickly started referring to the machine(s) clawing away at the original (modern-day original, that is) Hernando Kroger demolition as "the beast(s)" - (seems a second one was brought in to speed things along there). Similarly, I don't recall three being on site here in the beginning (the smallest one can be seen over close to the car dealership, bottom left of the photo). Southaven's not such a small town anymore either, but fun to pretend it still is sometimes...
American postcard by Fotofolio, New York, N.Y., no. WES24. Photo: W. Eugene Smith.
Flamboyant Brazilian dancer, singer and actress Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) taught the world how to samba dance. Popular from the 1930s to the 1950s in Brazil and Hollywood, Miranda's most famous songs include 'Tico Tico', 'South American Way', 'Chica Chica Boom Chic', 'Rebola a Bola' and 'I Yi Yi Yi Yi'. She was famous for her exotic outfits featuring a hat decorated with fruit and her tall platform sandals. The peak of her career was during the war years when she starred in eight of her fourteen films. As Miranda became famous around the world her trademark fruit basket went with her, morphing into a range of exuberant and colourful headdresses.
Carmen Miranda was born Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha in Várzea da Ovelha e Aliviada, a village in the northern Portuguese municipality of Marco de Canaveses in 1909. One of six children, Miranda was named after Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, reflecting her father's love of the art. She moved to Brazil when she was less than two years old to join her father who had set up a barber's shop. Her early artistic roots set her on a path to being a world-renowned musician and dancer. She began performing at an early age and at 20 years old she released her first album. Miranda's early work was inspired by 'baianas', the Afro-Brazilian fruit vendors she regularly saw during her childhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was working at a hat store that she first discovered her musical talent, which was strongly influenced by the samba music that played throughout the city's favelas. Channelling these influences, Miranda one day decided to don a headdress in the form of a fruit-filled turban inspired by the traditional headdress seen on black women fruit sellers. Miranda’s big break happened following her performance at the National Institute of Music. She landed an audition at a recording studio where she was immediately signed to put out a single. Miranda’s first album was released in 1929 and was immensely popular among Brazilians. Her performing style helped samba gain respect and a place in the Brazilian (and later, the world) spotlight. Carmen Miranda made her film debut in the Brazilian documentary A Voz do Carnaval/The Voice of Carnival (Adhemar Gonzaga, Humberto Mauro, 1933). The film includes comic sketches and musical numbers with some of the most popular Brazilian stars and Carmen sang 'Good-bye' and 'Moleque Indigesto' at the studio of Rádio Mayrink Veiga. Two years later she appeared in her first feature film, Alô, Alô, Brasil/Hello, Hello Brazil (João de Barro, Wallace Downey, Alberto Ribeiro, 1935). However. it was Estudantes/Students (Wallace Downey, 1935) that seemed to solidify Carmen in the minds of the Brazilian film audiences. Now they realised she could act as well as sing. Although there were three years between Alô Alô Carnaval (Adhemar Gonzaga, 1936) and Banana-da-Terra/Banana (Ruy Costa, 1939), Carmen continued to churn out musical hits in Brazil. The latter film would be the last in her home country. By the time Carmen Miranda moved to the United States in 1939, Miranda was a national star in Brazil. American producer Lee Shubert saw her act in Brazil and offered her a spot on his new Broadway revue 'The Streets of Paris' (1939). Knowing the need for a real Brazilian band to keep the appropriate music true, she insisted that her backup band be included in the deal. With the help of the Brazilian government which saw a good national image opportunity in Carmen, her demand was met.
In late 1939 Carmen Miranda arrived, with much fanfare in the press, in New York City. She was now ready to capture Americans' hearts with her talent. She appeared in some musical revues on Broadway and, just as everyone thought, was a huge hit. In 1940 Carmen was signed to appear in the Twentieth Century-Fox production Down Argentine Way (Irving Cummings, 1940), with Betty Grable and Don Ameche. The only complaint that critics had was the fact that Carmen was not on the screen enough. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "She was signed to a long-term 20th Century-Fox contract in 1940, which proved a wise move when World War II dried up the European movie market, leaving South America as practically the only foreign outlet for Hollywood films." In 1941 she was, again, teamed with Ameche in addition to Alice Faye in A Night in Rio (Irving Cummings, 1941). The film was extremely popular with the theatre patrons. Her unique songs went a long way in making her popular. It was after Week-End in Havana (Walter Lang, 1941) that American cartoon artists began to cash in on Carmen's ever-growing popularity. In the 1930s and 1940s cartoons were sometimes shown as a prelude to whatever feature film was showing. Sure enough, the cartoon version of Carmen came wriggling across the screen, complete with her trademark fruit hat and wide, toothy grin. In 1942 Carmen starred in Springtime in the Rockies (Irving Cummings, 1942) with Betty Grable and Cesar Romero, both of whom she had worked with before. It was shortly after this that America began adopting her style of dress as the latest fad. The most outrageous of her musicals was The Gang's All Here (Busby Berkeley, 1943), which Catherine A. Surowiec in the catalogue of Il Cinema Ritrovato 2006 describes as "a visual candybox of Technicolor treats": Camera-boom-riding choreographic genius Busby Berkeley was given full rein to weave his magic in full 3-strip technicolor for the first time and he pulled out all the stops. The film contains two of his most spectacular, surreal production numbers: the fabulous camp-classic 'The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat' (Carmen Miranda and chorus girls literally go bananas!) which for obvious reasons set censors in a spin, and the film's epic kaleidoscopic finale, a triumph of special photographic effects". Bruce Eder adds at All Movie: "the film keeps us moving, laughing, and humming, and also tapping our feet to the beat of Benny Goodman's orchestra. Berkeley's use of special effects in the service of dance is extraordinary -- gravity seems to disappear at various points, strange, unearthly rings surround performers in mid-air, and nightclubs interiors suddenly lose their walls and ceilings and even their stages, which suddenly become bigger than any building that they could seemingly ever contain them."
1944 saw Carmen Miranda in three films: Something for the Boys (Lewis Seiler, 1944), Four Jills in a Jeep (William A. Seiter, 1944) and Greenwich Village (Walter Lang, 1944). Denny Jackson at IMDb: "The first two did well at the box office, but the last one left a lot to be desired. It was her last busy year in film. Carmen made one film each in 1945, '46, '47 and '48. After that, she didn't make a film for two years, until Nancy Goes to Rio (Robert Z. Leonard, 1950), a production for MGM. Once again didn't make a film for several years, returning with Scared Stiff (George Marshall, 1953)." The studios labelled her the "Brazilian Bombshell", but the films tended to blur her Brazilian identity in favour of a generalised Latin American image. Hollywood's famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre invited her to leave her hand prints in the cement in 1941, the first Latin American to do so. She did stay busy, singing on the nightclub circuit and appearing on the relatively new medium of television. In 1947, Carmen married film producer David Sebastian. Kenneth Chisholm at IMDb: "He proved to be an abusive and opportunistic brute who made Carmen's life hell. Yet Carmen was a good Catholic and never considered divorce. Instead, she kept up a gruelling schedule of shows, taking uppers and downers to remain functional, even when they began to damage her health. Eventually, she collapsed and her doctor ordered her to go back to Brazil. She recovered and returned to America to resume the grind." Off-screen, Miranda was a talented sketch artist and costume designer; she was also very active in charitable work, seeing to it that a generous percentage of her earnings were sent to the destitute in South America. On 4 August 1955, Carmen Miranda suffered a heart attack, although she didn't realize it at the time, during an episode of The Jimmy Durante Show (1954-1956). She went home after attending a party. Early the next morning, on 5 August 1955, Carmen suffered a fatal heart attack. She was just 46 years old. Her body was flown to her adopted country of Brazil, where her death was declared a period of national mourning. The actress' memory is kept alive by the Carmen Miranda Museum in Rio De Janeiro.
Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Catherine A. Surowiec (Cinema Ritrovato 2006), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Bruce Eder (AllMovie), Kenneth Chisholm (IMDb), Telegraph, Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
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- “Do not touch me…”
Gospel of John, chapter 20, verse 17 (John 20, 17)
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I was with you, Father,
at the moment of creation.
I could not fail to know the elements and master them.
What would it be to
lift the stone of a tomb
compared to your will as Creator?
You taught me how the world is composed
and made me your son,
but I was a participant
in creation.
The followers who followed me
believed in You and in me,
Your son.
They will be happy to see me rise again,
but I will weep
for those still chained
in hell,
and my hands
will silence their strident cries.
Poor souls,
who migrate toward nothingness.
The fear,
God,
of these blind depths,
of these people who have not had
the splendor of your reins.
Because you do not know,
Father,
what it means
to sit at Your right hand
as a king.
A gentle but not cowardly king
who mediates
between your divine wrath
and the lust and unbelief of man.
I,
who am just,
love man
and ask your forgiveness
through this slow agony
that has lasted for centuries
for the world.
Behold, Lord, I give you back my spirit
in the form of a white dove
that will fly toward heaven.
And no other way
have you built peace
than with the groins of a bird
that brings the olive branch to your lips.
Father,
I will rise again,
and I will sit at your right hand.
POEM OF THE CROSS - Alda Merini
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- “Noli me tangere …”
Vangelo di Giovanni, capitolo 20, versetto 17 (Giovanni 20, 17)
++++++++++++++++++
- Ero con te, Padre,
al momento della creazione.
Non potevo non conoscere gli elementi e dominarli.
Cosa vuoi che sia
sollevare la pietra di un sepolcro
in confronto alla tua volontà di Creatore.
Tu mi hai insegnato come è composto il mondo
e mi hai reso figlio,
ma ero partecipe
della creazione.
I seguaci che mi hanno seguito
hanno creduto in Te e in me,
Tuo figlio.
Saranno felici di vedermi risorgere,
ma io piangerò
per quelli che sono ancora incatenati
nell'inferno
e le mie mani
faranno tacere i loro stridori.
Povere anime,
che migrano verso il nulla.
Lo spavento,
Dio,
di queste profondità cieche,
di questa gente che non ha avuto
lo splendore delle tue redini.
Perché tu non sai,
Padre,
cosa vuol dire
sedere alla Tua destra
in veste di re.
Un re mite ma non codardo
che fa da intermediario
tra la tua collera divina
e la lussuria e la miscredenza dell'uomo.
Io,
che sono giusto,
amo l'uomo
e ti chiedo perdono
attraverso questa lenta agonia
che dura da secoli
per il mondo.
Ecco, Signore, io ti rendo il mio spirito
in forma di bianca colomba
che volerà verso il cielo.
E non altrimenti
Tu hai costruito la pace
se non con gli inguini di un uccello
che porta l'ulivo alle tue labbra.
Padre,
io risorgerò,
e siederò alla Tua destra.
POEMA DELLA CROCE - Alda Merini
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This photographic story, with text, which I propose as my last work for Flickr in 2025 (2026 is now just a few minutes away), tells of the procession of the Holy Crucifix of Aracoeli, which took place in March of this year 2025 in the town of San Marco d'Alunzio (in the province of Messina). The procession normally begins on the morning of the last Friday of March each year, but there is an exception to this rule: when it coincides with Good Friday, then the procession is brought forward to the previous Friday. The procession of the Holy Crucifix of Aracoeli is an ancient penitential rite. On the feast day of the Crucifix, Holy Mass is celebrated in the Church of Aracoeli in San Marco d'Alunzio. On this occasion, the Holy Crucifix is celebrated. Crucifix (which is located in the church at the end of the right nave, at its feet is the painting of the Virgin of Sorrows pierced by seven swords), Christ on the Cross is removed by the devotees from the hook on which it is hanging, is carried outside the church, here it is raised and fixed on the float, the sermon of the priest who has climbed onto the float next to the Crucifix takes over, under the Cross is fixed the painting of His Sorrowful Mother, then they are carried in procession by the men (and women) in blue hoods called "babbaluti", they proceed invoking the pity and mercy of the Lord with a constant and rhythmic lament, saying "Signuri, Misericordia, Pietà!"; this is the norm, but this year the bad weather has brought some changes, the float on which they hoisted the SS. The crucifix with the kneeling babbaluti was not located in the churchyard, but inside the church. Christ was covered with a large sheet of cellophane to protect it from the rain, while the painting of the Madonna with swords in her heart was placed at her Son's feet only after the procession returned to the church. San Marco d'Alunzio is a charming town in the Messina area, located in the Nebrodi Mountains of Sicily. The procession takes place in honor of the Holy Crucifix of Araceli. This religious-penitential event is also known as the "procession of the babbaluti." These are those who, by vow or grace received, have chosen to carry the fercolo containing the crucifix and the painting on their shoulders in procession. they head to the nearby Church of Santa Maria dei Poveri or to some private home nearby where, sheltered from the curiosity of the faithful, they wear a simple but characteristic indigo-colored cloth habit, consisting of a tunic and a conical hood that covers the entire body and leaves only the eyes and hands free. It is not uncommon, however, for the penitents, rendered anonymous by the habit they wear, to also include women, who, to avoid any possibility of recognition, wear a pair of gloves; The babbaluti are 33 in number to commemorate the 33 years of Christ. The number is odd, in fact the 33rd babbaluto does not carry the vara. He (should be the “capo vara”) proceeds backwards, looking towards Christ and his Mother, and at the same time checks that everything is in order among the babbaluti, guiding the vara along the path, even if it is moving backwards (this is a way of proceeding in carrying the vara or fercolo, present in various Sicilian religious processions). So, the 32 (+1) "babbaluti" carry on their shoulders the float that bears the Holy Crucifix of the Araceli church (the statue of Christ was created by Scipione Li Volsi, in the year 1652, he was a sculptor and plasterer of the Sicilian Baroque), at whose feet, on the float, is tied the painting of Our Lady of Sorrows, whose chest appears pierced by seven swords (it is an 18th century painting), however, as already described, this year the painting, to protect it from the rain, was placed on the float only upon the return of the procession to the church. Before the procession begins, the babbaluti advance barefoot, wearing only heavy, hand-knitted stockings of raw wool. Before entering the church, they must walk a path of purification. When they approach the ancient church of Araceli, they bow and kiss the ground, thus receiving permission to enter the church. This, however, occurs through a side door, called the "false door" (in Sicilian dialect, "porta fausa"). Having entered the church from the side, they now exit through the main entrance, allowing them to take their places, kneeling in front and behind the float. To enter the "porta fausa," the babbaluti proceed in pairs, with the last babbaluti, the eldest, proceeding alone. After the priest's long-awaited speech, the procession can begin, winding through the streets of the picturesque and welcoming village of San Marco d'Alunzio. Along the way, the Babbaluti pace their steps, accompanying the mournful and plaintive jugular vein that invokes the Lord. Devout men and women walk alongside the Babbaluti, walking alongside the float, touching it, sometimes caressing it... just to have physical (and spiritual) contact with it. Finally, after completing a specific route, the procession returns to the ancient church (of Norman origins) of Aracoeli. Every time I attend this touching event, I am completely overwhelmed by emotion (which, however, I cannot abandon, lest I lose concentration while taking photos). The highlight is when the crucified Christ is removed from the hook fixed to the wall by expert men, and then carried (it seems to float) above the heads of the devotees, supported aloft with their hands, and hoisted and secured to the float. In these moments of intense emotion, it is common to see in the eyes of the devotees, shining with tears, that profound emotion of their relationship with this Christ, which has lasted forever: it is as if they were in the presence of the true Christ, in flesh and blood. This is the atmosphere experienced in those moments, this is the magic of the procession of the Most Holy Crucifix and His Mother, represented by the painting of Our Lady of Sorrows pierced by seven swords (an iconography of Spanish origin).
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Il presente racconto fotografico, con testo, che propongo come ultimo mio lavoro per Flickr dell’anno 2025 (oramai mancano pochi minuti al 2026) parla della processione del Santissimo Crocifisso di Aracoeli che si è tenuto nel marzo di quest’anno 2025 nel paese di San Marco d’Alunzio (in provincia di Messina). La processione normalmente inizia la mattina dell’ultimo venerdì del mese di marzo di ogni anno, c’è però una eccezione a questa regola, quando si realizza la coincidenza col Venerdì Santo, allora la processione viene anticipata al venerdì precedente. Quella del SS.Crocifisso di Aracoeli è un antico rito penitenziale, il giorno della festa del Crocifisso, a San Marco d'Alunzio si celebra la S. Messa nella Chiesa dell'Aracoeli, in questa occasione il SS. Crocifisso (che si trova nella chiesa in fondo alla navata di destra, ai suoi piedi è posto il quadro della Vergine Addolorata trafitta da sette spade), il Cristo sulla Croce viene tolto dai devoti dal gancio sul quale è appeso, viene portato all’esterno della chiesa, qui viene innalzato e fissato sulla vara, subentra il sermone del sacerdote salito sulla vara accanto al Crocifisso, sotto alla Croce viene fissato il quadro di sua Madre Addolorata, quindi vengono portati in processione dagli uomini (e donne) incappucciati di colore blu detti “babbaluti”, essi procedono invocando la pietà e la misericordia del Signore con un costante e ritmato lamento, dicendo “Signuri, Misericordia, Pietà!”; questa è la norma, ma quest’anno il cattivo tempo ha portato qualche cambiamento, la vara sulla quale hanno issato il SS. Crocifisso con i babbaluti messi in ginocchio, non si trovava sul sagrato davanti la chiesa, ma era dentro la chiesa, il Cristo veniva ricoperto con un ampio foglio di cellophane per proteggerlo dalla pioggia, mentre il quadro della Madonna con le spade nel cuore, è stato messo ai piedi di Suo Figlio solo al rientro della processione nella chiesa. San Marco d’Alunzio è un ameno paese del territorio Messinese, sito sui monti Nebrodi, in Sicilia; la processione si svolge proprio in onore del Santissimo Crocifisso di Araceli, è questa una ricorrenza religioso-penitenziale conosciuta anche come "processione dei babbaluti", essi sono coloro che per voto o per grazia ricevuta, hanno deciso di portare in processione sulle loro spalle il fercolo con il Crocifisso ed il quadro; essi si dirigono nella vicina Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Poveri o in qualche abitazione privata lì vicino dove, al riparo dalla curiosità dei fedeli, indossano un semplice ma caratteristico saio di tela di colore indaco, costituito da una tunica e un cappuccio di forma conica tale da coprire l'intero corpo e lasciare liberi solo gli occhi e le mani, non è raro purtuttavia che tra i penitenti, resi anonimi dal saio che indossano, vi siano anche delle donne, le quali per evitare qualsiasi possibilità di riconoscimento, indossano un paio di guanti; i babbaluti sono in numero di 33 per rievocare i 33 anni di Cristo, il numero è dispari, infatti il 33° babbaluto non porta la vara, egli (dovrebbe essere il “capo vara”) procede all’indietro, rivolgendo lo sguardo al Cristo ed a sua Madre, e nel contempo controlla che tutto sia in ordine tra i babbaluti, guidando la vara lungo il percorso, anche se il suo andamento è a ritroso, (questo è un modo di procedere nel portare la vara o fercolo, presente in diverse processioni religiose siciliane). Quindi, i 32 (+1) "babbaluti" portano sulle loro spalle la vara che reca il Santo Crocifisso della chiesa dell’Araceli (la statua del Cristo è stata creata da Scipione Li Volsi, nell'anno 1652, egli fu uno scultore e stuccatore del barocco SIciliano), ai cui piedi, sulla vara, viene legato il quadro della Madonna Addolorata, il cui petto appare trafitto da sette spade ( è un dipinto del XVIII secolo), purtuttavia come già descritto, quest’anno il quadro, per proteggerlo dalla pioggia, è stato messo sulla vara solo al rientro della processione in chiesa. I babbaluti prima dell'inizio della processione avanzano a piedi scalzi indossando solo delle pesanti calze di lana grezza realizzate a mano, devono percorrere, prima di entrare in chiesa, un cammino di purificazione: quando essi giungono in prossimità dell'antica chiesa dell'Araceli, essi si chinano e baciano in terra, ricevendo in tal modo il permesso per poter accedere dentro la chiesa, questo però avviene da una porta laterale, chiamata "falsa porta" (In dialetto siciliano “porta fausa”), una volta entrati in chiesa lateralmente, ora fuoriescono dall'ingresso principale, potendo così prendere posto, inginocchiandosi sul davanti ed alle spalle, della vara; i babbaluti per accedere alla “porta fausa” procedono in coppia, l’ultimo babbaluto procede da solo, lui è il più anziano tra i babbaluti; seguirà l'atteso discorso del sacerdote, terminato, potrà iniziare la processione che si svolge per le vie del pittoresco ed accogliente paese di San Marco d'Alunzio. Lungo il percorso i Babbaluti cadenzano la propria andatura accompagnandosi alla mesta e lamentosa giugulatoria che invoca il Signore . Ci sono uomini e donne devoti che procedono assieme ai babbaluti camminando a lato della vara, toccandola, ora accarezzandola...pur di avere un contatto fisico (e di rimando spirituale) con essa. Infine, dopo aver compiuto un preciso percorso, la processione fa rientro nell'antica chiesa (di origini Normanne) dell'Aracoeli. Ogniqualvolta sono presente a questa toccante ricorrenza sono completamente inondato da emozioni (alle quali però non posso abbandonarmi, perderei la concentrazione nel realizzare le foto), il momento clou è quando il Cristo Crocifisso viene tolto dal gancio fissato sul muro da uomini esperti, per poi essere portato (sembra galleggiare) sopra la testa dei devoti, sostenuto in alto con le mani, ed essere issato e fissato sulla vara; in questi momenti di intensa emozione è comune vedere negli occhi dei devoti, lucidi di lacrime, quella emozione profonda del loro rapporto con questo Cristo, che dura da sempre: è come se si trovassero al cospetto del Cristo vero, in carne ed ossa, questa è l’atmosfera che si vive in quei momenti, questa è la magia della processione del SS. Crocifisso e di Sua Madre, rappresentata dal quadro dell’Addolorata trafitta da sette spade (iconografia di origine spagnola).
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""Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it."
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes."
– Matt 7:24-29, which is part of today's Gospel at Mass.
Stained glass window from the Caldwell Chapel at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC.
A poem in the landscape
There are quite a lot of poems in the landscapes around this place.
Snippets of poetry can be found along the path – some in the form of installations like this one; others in wee acetate blocks on posts along the way. It’s an interesting, fairly easy walk. Worth pausing as you go.
The text in this photo says:
“Time has taught the uses of silence.”
Time to pause…
P1013763 Taken at: Corbenic Poetry Path, Perthshire, Scotland. Time has taught the uses of silence.
Hidcote Manor Garden is one of England's great gardens. It was the life's passion of one man, self-taught gardener Lawrence Johnston who created his 'garden of rooms' here.
The creator of Hidcote (it's his statue you are looking at!)
Lawrence Johnston was born in Paris of American parents. He came to England to study at Cambridge University.
After graduating, he fought for the British Army. He was so badly wounded in the First World War that he was laid out for burial. His colleagues realised that he was still alive only after he moved slightly.
In 1907, Johnston's mother, Mrs Gertrude Winthrop, bought the Hidcote Manor Estate. Johnston came to live at Hidcote and soon took to gardening.
Developing a masterpiece
Johnston spent 41 years creating what would become one of England's most influential 20th-century gardens. He began work in 1907, becoming interested in making a garden out of the fields surrounding the house.
The garden was developed in the fashionable Arts & Crafts style: a series of outdoor 'rooms' offering surprises and discoveries at each turn.
By the 1920s, the transformation was well under way. Johnston employed 12 full-time gardeners to help shape his 10-acre creation. He always took advice and read extensively on the work of eminent gardeners, such as Gertrude Jekyll.
'A garden of rooms'
Johnston designed Hidcote as a series of outdoor 'rooms', which combine sensuous masses of colour with traditional garden crafts such as topiary. Each room has its own distinct atmosphere and character.
The hedges that divide the rooms sprung up due to the plot's exposed aspect. Johnston planted hedges of holly, beech, hornbeam and yew for shelter and structure.
Exotic plants
As well as a gardener, Lawrence Johnston was an accomplished plantsman. The range of plants he used was huge.
In a never-ending quest, he secured rare and exotic species by sponsoring and taking part in plant hunting expeditions. Trips took him to the Alps, Kenya and South Africa. He also plant-swapped with the Australians and the Japanese.
The expeditions introduced over 40 new plants to cultivation in the UK, many of which bear Johnston's name. He was awarded three Awards of Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society for his plant hunting achievements.
The National Trust learns to garden
In 1948, Lawrence Johnston retired to Serre de la Madone, his home on the French Riviera where he had created another spectacular garden.
Hidcote Manor Garden came to the National Trust, the first property acquired specifically for the garden.
While carrying forward the spirit of Lawrence Johnston, Hidcote has changed over time since the 1930s. Lack of funding has led to areas of the garden becoming overgrown and many of Johnston's tender plants being replaced.
'This place is a jungle of beauty. I cannot hope to describe it in words, for indeed it is an impossible thing to reproduce the shape, colour, depth and design of such a garden through the poor medium of prose'
- Vita Sackville-West
For more information about Hidcote Manor Garden, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/...
No word yet on whether Hughes believes his experiment proves or disproves flat-Earth theory, but he's always maintained that wasn't the goal. He believes the Earth is frisbee shaped.
Hughes is happy regardless. "Am I glad I did it? Yeah. I guess," he said. "I'll feel it in the morning. I won't be able to get out of bed. At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight."
The launch had its issues, which is why, according to Hughes, the rocket only managed to hit 1,875 feet. They had planned to hit 350 psi for thrust but could only hit 340 as a result of less-than-ideal conditions. The next step for Hughes is a "Rockoon", essentially a rocket that transforms into a balloon after launch, which will allow Hughes to fly higher. Sixty-eight miles up, Hughes believes. A film crew is following Hughes for a documentary set for release in August.
Hughes’s homemade rocket launches near Amboy, Calif., on Saturday. The self-taught rocket scientist, who believes Earth is flat, propelled himself about 1,875 feet into the air before a hard landing in the Mojave Desert. (Matt Hartman/AP)
Mike Hughes, a California man who is most known for his belief that the Earth is shaped like a Frisbee, finally blasted off into the sky in a steam-powered rocket he had built himself.
The 61-year-old limo driver and daredevil-turned-rocket-maker soared about 1,875 feet above the Mojave Desert on Saturday afternoon, the Associated Press reported. Hughes’s white-and-green rocket, bearing the words “FLAT EARTH,” propelled vertically about 3 p.m. Pacific time and reached a speed of about 350 mph, Waldo Stakes, who has been helping Hughes, told the AP. Hughes deployed two parachutes while landing, the second one just moments before he plopped down not far from his launching point. A video shows that the whole endeavor, from the moment his rocket went up to the moment he landed, lasted about a minute. The vertical launch, which happened without a countdown more than 200 miles east of Los Angeles, came amid growing skepticism that Hughes would ever lift himself off. The launch had been postponed multiple times, partly because Hughes said he couldn’t get permission from a federal agency to conduct it on public land.
After he landed Saturday, Hughes told the AP that he was “relieved” but that he expected to feel the physical toll of it all the next day.
“Am I glad I did it? Yeah. I guess. I’ll feel it in the morning. I won’t be able to get out of bed,” he said. “At least I can go home and have dinner and see my cats tonight.”
He also said he’d been frustrated with assumptions that he “chickened out,” so he “manned up and did it.”
Hughes had been on a mission to prove that the Earth is flat and that NASA astronauts such as John Glenn and Neil Armstrong were merely paid actors performing in front of a computer-generated image of a round globe. His previous failed attempts, as well as the successful one on Saturday, are all part of his ultimate goal to propel himself at least 52 miles above Earth by the end of the year — and to prove once and for all that the planet is flat.
On March 6, self-taught rocket scientist Mike Hughes began repairing a steam leak after scrubbing a launch attempt near Amboy, Calif. (James Quigg/Daily Press/AP)
Hughes had initially planned to launch his rocket in November, but he postponed it, claiming the Bureau of Land Management told him he couldn’t do so on federal land. A spokeswoman for the agency, however, said its field office has no record of speaking with Hughes.
The launch was postponed again later that month, as Hughes moved his launching point to a private property near Amboy, Calif., an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert.
“It’s still happening. We’re just moving it three miles down the road,” Hughes told The Washington Post in late November, as he hauled the rocket to the new spot. “I don’t see [the launch] happening until about Tuesday, honestly. It takes three days to set up. . . . You know, it’s not easy because it’s not supposed to be easy.”
In February, Hughes finally attempted his flight, but his rocket didn’t ignite. He blamed technical difficulties.
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Flat-Earther fails to launch homemade rocket
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Mike Hughes planned to launch his homemade rocket on Feb. 3, after he canceled a launch in November. The second version failed, too. (Video: Patrick Martin/Photo: Courtesy of Mike Hughes/The Washington Post)
To Hughes’s credit, he has shown some skills in building rockets. He set a Guinness World Record in 2002 for a limousine jump, according to Ars Technica, and has been building rockets for years, albeit with mixed results. He built his first manned rocket in 2014, the AP reported, and managed to fly a quarter-mile over Winkelman, Ariz.
According to the AP, Hughes’s hard landing on Saturday left him injured, though it is unclear what type of injuries he suffered. Photos show paramedics carrying Hughes on a stretcher and into an ambulance.
Also among Hughes’s plans — aside from trying to get to space — is to run for governor.
“This is no joke,” he told the AP. “I want to do it.”
Mike Hughes is carried on a stretcher after his rocket landed in the Mojave Desert on Saturday. (Matt Hartman/AP)
A flat-earther finally tried to fly away. His rocket didn’t even ignite. This man is about to launch himself in his homemade rocket to prove the Earth is flat A flat-Earther’s plan to launch himself in a homemade rocket just hit a speed bump
Origins. The idea that the Earth was flat was typical of ancient European cosmologies until about the 4th century BCE, when the Ancient Greek philosophers proposed the idea that the Earth was a sphere, or at least rounded in shape. Aristotle was one of the first Greek thinkers to propose a spherical Earth in 330 BCE. By the early Middle Ages, it was widespread knowledge throughout Europe that the Earth was a sphere.
The Flat Earth model is an archaic belief that the Earth's shape is a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD) and China until the 17th century. It was also typically held in the aboriginal cultures of the Americas, and a flat Earth domed by the firmament in the shape of an inverted bowl is common in pre-scientific societies.
The paradigm of a spherical Earth appeared in Greek philosophy with Pythagoras (6th century BC), although most Pre-Socratics retained the flat Earth model. Aristotle accepted the spherical shape of the Earth on empirical grounds around 330 BC, and knowledge of the spherical Earth gradually began to spread beyond the Hellenistic world from then on.
The modern misconception that educated Europeans at the time of Columbus believed in a flat Earth, and that his voyages refuted that belief, has been referred to as the myth of the flat Earth.
A flat Earth model depicting Antarctica as an ice wall surrounding a disk-shaped Earth.
Modern hypotheses supporting a flat Earth originated with English inventor Samuel Rowbotham (1816–1884). Based on his incorrect interpretation of experiments on the Bedford Level, Rowbotham published a 16-page pamphlet, called Zetetic Astronomy, which he later expanded into a 430-page book, Earth Not a Globe, expounding his views. According to Rowbotham's system, the earth is a flat disc centred at the North Pole and bounded along its southern edge by a wall of ice (Antarctica), with the sun and moon 3,000 miles (4,800 km) and the "cosmos" 3,100 miles (5,000 km) above earth.He also published a leaflet entitled "The inconsistency of Modern Astronomy and its Opposition to the Scriptures!!" which argued that the "Bible, alongside our senses, supported the idea that the earth was flat and immovable and this essential truth should not be set aside for a system based solely on human conjecture".
Rowbotham and his followers, like William Carpenter who continued his work, gained attention by engaging in public debates[when?] with leading scientists of the day. One such debate, involving the prominent naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, concerned the Bedford Level experiment (and later led to several lawsuits for fraud and libel). Rowbotham created a Zetetic Society in England and New York, shipping over a thousand copies of Zetetic Astronomy. Council members in New York included the US Consul to China and the superintendent of Baltimore public schools. He also edited The Zetetic and Anti-Theorist: a monthly journal of practical cosmography.
After Rowbotham's death, Lady Elizabeth Blount, wife of the explorer Sir Walter de Sodington Blount, established a Universal Zetetic Society, whose objective was "the propagation of knowledge related to Natural Cosmogony in confirmation of the Holy Scriptures, based on practical scientific investigation". The society published a magazine entitled The Earth Not a Globe Review, and remained active well into the early part of the 20th century.[A flat Earth journal, Earth: a Monthly Magazine of Sense and Science, was published between 1901–1904, edited by Lady Blount. In 1901, she repeated Rowbotham's Bedford Level Experiment and photographed the effect, sparking a correspondence in the magazine English Mechanic with several counter-claims. Later it achieved some notoriety by being involved in a scam involving dental practices. After World War I, the movement underwent a slow decline.
Philosophers
Several pre-Socratic philosophers believed that the world was flat: Thales (c. 550 BC) according to several sources,[26] and Leucippus (c. 440 BC) and Democritus (c. 460 – 370 BC) according to Aristotle.
Thales thought the earth floated in water like a log.It has been argued, however, that Thales actually believed in a round Earth. Anaximander (c. 550 BC) believed the Earth was a short cylinder with a flat, circular top that remained stable because it was the same distance from all things. Anaximenes of Miletus believed that "the earth is flat and rides on air; in the same way the sun and the moon and the other heavenly bodies, which are all fiery, ride the air because of their flatness."Xenophanes of Colophon (c. 500 BC) thought that the Earth was flat, with its upper side touching the air, and the lower side extending without limit.
Belief in a flat Earth continued into the 5th century BC. Anaxagoras (c. 450 BC) agreed that the Earth was flat,and his pupil Archelaus believed that the flat Earth was depressed in the middle like a saucer, to allow for the fact that the Sun does not rise and set at the same time for everyone.
Historians
Hecataeus of Miletus believed the earth was flat and surrounded by water.Herodotus in his Histories ridiculed the belief that water encircled the world,yet most classicists agree he still believed the earth was flat because of his descriptions of literal "ends" or "edges" of the earth.
Ancient India
Ancient Jain and Buddhist cosmology held that the Earth is a disc consisting of four continents grouped around a central mountain (Mount Meru) like the petals of a flower. An outer ocean surrounds these continents. This view of traditional Buddhist and Jain cosmology depicts the cosmos as a vast, oceanic disk (of the magnitude of a small planetary system), bounded by mountains, in which the continents are set as small islands.[
Norse and Germanic
The ancient Norse and Germanic peoples believed in a flat earth cosmography of the earth surrounded by an ocean, with the axis mundi (a world-tree: Yggdrasil, or pillar: Irminsul) in the centre.The Norse believed that in the world-encircling ocean sat a snake called Jormungandr. In the Norse creation account preserved in Gylfaginning (VIII) it is stated that during the creation of the earth, an impassable sea was placed around the earth like a ring:
...And Jafnhárr said: "Of the blood, which ran and welled forth freely out of his wounds, they made the sea, when they had formed and made firm the earth together, and laid the sea in a ring round. about her; and it may well seem a hard thing to most men to cross over it."
The late Norse Konungs skuggsjá, on the other hand, states that:
...If you take a lighted candle and set it in a room, you may expect it to light up the entire interior, unless something should hinder, though the room be quite large. But if you take an apple and hang it close to the flame, so near that it is heated, the apple will darken nearly half the room or even more. However, if you hang the apple near the wall, it will not get hot; the candle will light up the whole house; and the shadow on the wall where the apple hangs will be scarcely half as large as the apple itself. From this you may infer that the earth-circle is round like a ball and not equally near the sun at every point. But where the curved surface lies nearest the sun's path, there will the greatest heat be; and some of the lands that lie continuously under the unbroken rays cannot be inhabited."
Ancient China
Further information: Chinese astronomy
In ancient China, the prevailing belief was that the Earth was flat and square, while the heavens were round,[48] an assumption virtually unquestioned until the introduction of European astronomy in the 17th century. The English sinologist Cullen emphasizes the point that there was no concept of a round Earth in ancient Chinese astronomy:
Chinese thought on the form of the earth remained almost unchanged from early times until the first contacts with modern science through the medium of Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth century. While the heavens were variously described as being like an umbrella covering the earth (the Kai Tian theory), or like a sphere surrounding it (the Hun Tian theory), or as being without substance while the heavenly bodies float freely (the Hsüan yeh theory), the earth was at all times flat, although perhaps bulging up slightly.
The model of an egg was often used by Chinese astronomers like Zhang Heng (78-139 AD) to describe the heavens as spherical:
The heavens are like a hen's egg and as round as a crossbow bullet; the earth is like the yolk of the egg, and lies in the centre.
This analogy with a curved egg led some modern historians, notably Joseph Needham, to conjecture that Chinese astronomers were, after all, aware of the Earth's sphericity. The egg reference, however, was rather meant to clarify the relative position of the flat earth to the heavens:
In a passage of Zhang Heng's cosmogony not translated by Needham, Zhang himself says: "Heaven takes its body from the Yang, so it is round and in motion. Earth takes its body from the Yin, so it is flat and quiescent". The point of the egg analogy is simply to stress that the earth is completely enclosed by heaven, rather than merely covered from above as the Kai Tian describes. Chinese astronomers, many of them brilliant men by any standards, continued to think in flat-earth terms until the seventeenth century; this surprising fact might be the starting-point for a re-examination of the apparent facility with which the idea of a spherical earth found acceptance in fifth-century BC Greece.[54]
Further examples cited by Needham supposed to demonstrate dissenting voices from the ancient Chinese consensus actually refer without exception to the Earth's being square, not to its being flat.[55] Accordingly, the 13th-century scholar Li Ye, who argued that the movements of the round heaven would be hindered by a square Earth,[48] did not advocate a spherical Earth, but rather that its edge should be rounded off so as to be circular.[56]
As noted in the book Huai Nan Zu,[57] in the 2nd century BC Chinese astronomers effectively inverted Eratosthenes' calculation of the curvature of the Earth to calculate the height of the sun above the earth. By assuming the earth was flat, they arrived at a distance of 100,000 li, a value short by three orders of magnitude.
Declining support for the flat earth
Ancient Mediterranean
When a ship is at the horizon, its lower part is obscured due to the curvature of the Earth.
Semi-circular shadow of Earth on the Moon during the phases of a lunar eclipse
In The Histories, written 431–425 BC, Herodotus cast doubt on a report of the sun observed shining from the north. He stated that the phenomenon was observed during a circumnavigation of Africa undertaken by Phoenician explorers employed by Egyptian pharaoh Necho II c. 610–595 BC (The Histories, 4.42) who claimed to have had the sun on their right when circumnavigating in a clockwise direction. To modern historians aware of a spherical Earth, these details confirm the truth of the Phoenicians’ report.
After the Greek philosophers Pythagoras, in the 6th century BC, and Parmenides, in the 5th, recognized that the Earth is spherical,[58] the spherical view spread rapidly in the Greek world. Around 330 BC, Aristotle maintained on the basis of physical theory and observational evidence that the Earth was spherical.The Earth's circumference was first determined around 240 BC by Eratosthenes. By the second century CE. Ptolemy had derived his maps from a curved globe and developed the system of latitude, longitude, and climes. His Almagest was written in Greek and only translated into Latin in the 11th century from Arabic translations.
The Terrestrial Sphere of Crates of Mallus (c. 150 BC).
In the 2nd century BC, Crates of Mallus devised a terrestrial sphere that divided the Earth into four continents, separated by great rivers or oceans, with people presumed living in each of the four regions. Opposite the oikumene, the inhabited world, were the antipodes, considered unreachable both because of an intervening torrid zone (equator) and the ocean. This took a strong hold on the medieval mind.
Lucretius (1st. c. BC) opposed the concept of a spherical Earth, because he considered that an infinite universe had no center towards which heavy bodies would tend. Thus, he thought the idea of animals walking around topsy-turvy under the Earth was absurd. By the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder was in a position to claim that everyone agrees on the spherical shape of Earth, though disputes continued regarding the nature of the antipodes, and how it is possible to keep the ocean in a curved shape. Pliny also considered the possibility of an imperfect sphere, "...shaped like a pinecone."
In late antiquity such widely read encyclopedists as Macrobius (5th century) and Martianus Capella (5th century) discussed the circumference of the sphere of the Earth, its central position in the universe, the difference of the seasons in northern and southern hemispheres, and many other geographical details. In his commentary on Cicero's Dream of Scipio, Macrobius described the Earth as a globe of insignificant size in comparison to the remainder of the cosmos.
Early Christian Church
During the early Church period, with some exceptions, most held a spherical view, for instance, Augustine, Jerome, and Ambrose to name a few.
In Book III of The Divine Institutes Lactantius ridicules the notion that there could be inhabitants of the antipodes "whose footsteps are higher than their heads." After presenting some arguments he attributes to advocates for a spherical heaven and Earth, he writes:
But if you inquire from those who defend these marvellous fictions, why all things do not fall into that lower part of the heaven, they reply that such is the nature of things, that heavy bodies are borne to the middle, and that they are all joined together towards the middle, as we see spokes in a wheel; but that the bodies that are light, as mist, smoke, and fire, are borne away from the middle, so as to seek the heaven. I am at a loss what to say respecting those who, when they have once erred, consistently persevere in their folly, and defend one vain thing by another.
Saint Augustine (354–430) took a more cautious approach in arguing against assuming that people inhabited the antipodes:
But as to the fable that there are Antipodes, that is to say, men on the opposite side of the earth, where the sun rises when it sets to us, men who walk with their feet opposite ours that is on no ground credible. And, indeed, it is not affirmed that this has been learned by historical knowledge, but by scientific conjecture, on the ground that the earth is suspended within the concavity of the sky, and that it has as much room on the one side of it as on the other: hence they say that the part that is beneath must also be inhabited. But they do not remark that, although it be supposed or scientifically demonstrated that the world is of a round and spherical form, yet it does not follow that the other side of the earth is bare of water; nor even, though it be bare, does it immediately follow that it is peopled.
Since these people would have to be descended from Adam, they would have had to travel to the other side of the Earth at some point; Augustine continues:
It is too absurd to say, that some men might have taken ship and traversed the whole wide ocean, and crossed from this side of the world to the other, and that thus even the inhabitants of that distant region are descended from that one first man.
Scholars of Augustine's work have traditionally understood him to have shared the common view of his educated contemporaries that the Earth is spherical, in line with the quotation above, and with Augustine's famous endorsement of science in De Genesi ad litteram. That tradition has, however, recently been challenged by Leo Ferrari, who concluded that many of Augustine's passing references to the physical universe imply a belief in an essentially flat Earth "at the bottom of the universe".
Cosmas Indicopleustes' world picture - flat earth in a Tabernacle.
Diodorus of Tarsus (d. 394) may have argued for a flat Earth based on scriptures; however, Diodorus' opinion on the matter is known to us only by a criticism of it by Photius.Severian, Bishop of Gabala (d. 408), wrote that the Earth is flat and the sun does not pass under it in the night, but "travels through the northern parts as if hidden by a wall". The Egyptian monk Cosmas Indicopleustes (547) in his Topographia Christiana, where the Covenant Ark was meant to represent the whole universe, argued on theological grounds that the Earth was flat, a parallelogram enclosed by four oceans.
In his Homilies Concerning the Statutes St. John Chrysostom (344–408) explicitly espoused the idea, based on his reading of Scripture, that the Earth floated on the waters gathered below the firmament, and St. Athanasius (c. 293 – 373) expressed similar views in Against the Heathen.
A very recent essay by Leone Montagnini, discussing the question of the shape of the Earth from the origins to the late Antiquity, has shown that the Fathers of the Church shared different approaches that paralleled their overall philosophical and theological visions. Those of them who were more close to Platonic visions, like Origen, shared peacefully the geosphericism. A second tradition, including Basil, Ambrose and Augustine, but also Philoponus, accepted the idea of the round Earth and the radial gravity, but in a critical way. In particular they pointed out a number of doubts about the physical reasons of the radial gravity, and hesitated in accepting the physical reasons proposed by Aristotle or Stoicism. However, a "flattist" approach was more or less shared by all the Fathers coming from the Syriac area, who were more inclined to follow the letter of the Old Testament. Diodorus, Severian, and Cosmas Indicopleustes, but also Chrysostom, belonged just to this latter tradition.
At least one early Christian writer, Basil of Caesarea (329–379), believed that the matter was theologically irrelevant.
Early Middle Ages
Early medieval Christian writers in the early Middle Ages felt little urge to assume flatness of the earth, though they had fuzzy impressions of the writings of Ptolemy, Aristotle, and relied more on Pliny.
9th-century Macrobian cosmic diagram showing the sphere of the Earth at the center, (globus terrae)
With the end of Roman civilization, Western Europe entered the Middle Ages with great difficulties that affected the continent's intellectual production. Most scientific treatises of classical antiquity (in Greek) were unavailable, leaving only simplified summaries and compilations. Still, many textbooks of the Early Middle Ages supported the sphericity of the Earth. For example: some early medieval manuscripts of Macrobius include maps of the Earth, including the antipodes, zonal maps showing the Ptolemaic climates derived from the concept of a spherical Earth and a diagram showing the Earth (labeled as globus terrae, the sphere of the Earth) at the center of the hierarchically ordered planetary spheres.Further examples of such medieval diagrams can be found in medieval manuscripts of the Dream of Scipio. In the Carolingian era, scholars discussed Macrobius's view of the antipodes. One of them, the Irish monk Dungal, asserted that the tropical gap between our habitable region and the other habitable region to the south was smaller than Macrobius had believed.
12th-century T and O map representing the inhabited world as described by Isidore of Seville in his Etymologiae. (chapter 14, de terra et partibus).
Europe's view of the shape of the Earth in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages may be best expressed by the writings of early Christian scholars:
Boethius (c. 480 – 524), who also wrote a theological treatise On the Trinity, repeated the Macrobian model of the Earth in the center of a spherical cosmos in his influential, and widely translated, Consolation of Philosophy.
Bishop Isidore of Seville (560 – 636) taught in his widely read encyclopedia, the Etymologies diverse views such as that the Earth "resembles a wheel"resembling Anaximander in language and the map that he provided. This was widely interpreted as referring to a flat disc-shaped Earth.An illustration from Isidore's De Natura Rerum shows the five zones of the earth as adjacent circles. Some have concluded that he thought the Arctic and Antarctic zones were adjacent to each other. He did not admit the possibility of antipodes, which he took to mean people dwelling on the opposite side of the Earth, considering them legendary and noting that there was no evidence for their existence.[87] Isidore's T and O map, which was seen as representing a small part of a spherical Earth, continued to be used by authors through the Middle Ages, e.g. the 9th-century bishop Rabanus Maurus who compared the habitable part of the northern hemisphere (Aristotle's northern temperate clime) with a wheel. At the same time, Isidore's works also gave the views of sphericity, for example, in chapter 28 of De Natura Rerum, Isidore claims that the sun orbits the earth and illuminates the other side when it is night on this side. See French translation of De Natura Rerum.[88] In his other work Etymologies, there are also affirmations that the sphere of the sky has earth in its center and the sky being equally distant on all sides. Other researchers have argued these points as well. "The work remained unsurpassed until the thirteenth century and was regarded as the summit of all knowledge. It became an essential part of European medieval culture. Soon after the invention of typography it appeared many times in print." However, "The Scholastics - later medieval philosophers, theologians, and scientists - were helped by the Arabic translators and commentaries, but they hardly needed to struggle against a flat-earth legacy from the early middle ages (500-1050). Early medieval writers often had fuzzy and imprecise impressions of both Ptolemy and Aristotle and relied more on Pliny, but they felt (with one exception), little urge to assume flatness."
Isidore's portrayal of the five zones of the earth
The monk Bede (c. 672 – 735) wrote in his influential treatise on computus, The Reckoning of Time, that the Earth was round ('not merely circular like a shield [or] spread out like a wheel, but resembl[ing] more a ball'), explaining the unequal length of daylight from "the roundness of the Earth, for not without reason is it called 'the orb of the world' on the pages of Holy Scripture and of ordinary literature. It is, in fact, set like a sphere in the middle of the whole universe." (De temporum ratione, 32). The large number of surviving manuscripts of The Reckoning of Time, copied to meet the Carolingian requirement that all priests should study the computus, indicates that many, if not most, priests were exposed to the idea of the sphericity of the Earth.[94] Ælfric of Eynsham paraphrased Bede into Old English, saying "Now the Earth's roundness and the Sun's orbit constitute the obstacle to the day's being equally long in every land."
St Vergilius of Salzburg (c. 700 – 784), in the middle of the 8th century, discussed or taught some geographical or cosmographical ideas that St Boniface found sufficiently objectionable that he complained about them to Pope Zachary. The only surviving record of the incident is contained in Zachary's reply, dated 748, where he wrote:
"As for the perverse and sinful doctrine which he (Virgil) against God and his own soul has uttered—if it shall be clearly established that he professes belief in another world and other men existing beneath the earth, or in (another) sun and moon there, thou art to hold a council, deprive him of his sacerdotal rank, and expel him from the Church."
Some authorities have suggested that the sphericity of the Earth was among the aspects of Vergilius's teachings that Boniface and Zachary considered objectionable. Others have considered this unlikely, and take the wording of Zachary's response to indicate at most an objection to belief in the existence of humans living in the antipodes. In any case, there is no record of any further action having been taken against Vergilius. He was later appointed bishop of Salzburg, and was canonised in the 13th century.
12th-century depiction of a spherical Earth with the four seasons (book "Liber Divinorum Operum" by Hildegard of Bingen)
A possible non-literary but graphic indication that people in the Middle Ages believed that the Earth (or perhaps the world) was a sphere, is the use of the orb (globus cruciger) in the regalia of many kingdoms and of the Holy Roman Empire. It is attested from the time of the Christian late-Roman emperor Theodosius II (423) throughout the Middle Ages; the Reichsapfel was used in 1191 at the coronation of emperor Henry VI. However the word 'orbis' means 'circle' and there is no record of a globe as a representation of the Earth since ancient times in the west till that of Martin Behaim in 1492. Additionally it could well be a representation of the entire 'world' or cosmos.
A recent study of medieval concepts of the sphericity of the Earth noted that "since the eighth century, no cosmographer worthy of note has called into question the sphericity of the Earth." However, the work of these intellectuals may not have had significant influence on public opinion, and it is difficult to tell what the wider population may have thought of the shape of the Earth, if they considered the question at all.
High and Late Middle Ages
Picture from a 1550 edition of On the Sphere of the World, the most influential astronomy textbook of 13th-century Europe.
By the 11th century Europe had learned of Islamic astronomy. The Renaissance of the 12th century from about 1070 started an intellectual revitalization of Europe with strong philosophical and scientific roots, and increased interest in natural philosophy.
Illustration of the spherical Earth in a 14th-century copy of L'Image du monde (c. 1246).
Hermannus Contractus (1013–1054) was among the earliest Christian scholars to estimate the circumference of Earth with Eratosthenes' method. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), the most important and widely taught theologian of the Middle Ages, believed in a spherical Earth; and he even took for granted his readers also knew the Earth is round.Lectures in the medieval universities commonly advanced evidence in favor of the idea that the Earth was a sphere. Also, "On the Sphere of the World", the most influential astronomy textbook of the 13th century and required reading by students in all Western European universities, described the world as a sphere. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, wrote, "The physicist proves the earth to be round by one means, the astronomer by another: for the latter proves this by means of mathematics, e.g. by the shapes of eclipses, or something of the sort; while the former proves it by means of physics, e.g. by the movement of heavy bodies towards the center, and so forth."
The shape of the Earth was not only discussed in scholarly works written in Latin; it was also treated in works written in vernacular languages or dialects and intended for wider audiences. The Norwegian book Konungs Skuggsjá, from around 1250, states clearly that the Earth is round—and that there is night on the opposite side of the Earth when there is daytime in Norway. The author also discusses the existence of antipodes—and he notes that (if they exist) they see the Sun in the north of the middle of the day, and that they experience seasons opposite those of people in the Northern Hemisphere.
However Tattersall shows that in many vernacular works in 12th- and 13th-century French texts the Earth was considered "round like a table" rather than "round like an apple". "In virtually all the examples quoted...from epics and from non-'historical' romances (that is, works of a less learned character) the actual form of words used suggests strongly a circle rather than a sphere.
Portuguese exploration of Africa and Asia, Columbus's voyage to the Americas (1492) and finally Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation of the Earth (1519–21) provided the final, practical proofs for the global shape of the Earth.
Islamic world
Further information: Spherical Earth § Medieval Islamic scholars
The Abbasid Caliphate saw a great flowering of astronomy and mathematics in the 9th century CE. in which Muslim scholars translated Ptolemy's work, which become the Almagest, and extended and updated his work based on spherical ideas, and these have generally been respected since. However after the decline of the Golden Age in the 13th century more traditional views were increasingly heard.
The Quran mentions that the world was "laid out" or "made flat". To this a classic Sunni commentary, the Tafsir al-Kabir (al-Razi) written in the late 12th century says "If it is said: Do the words “And the earth We spread out” indicate that it is flat? We would respond: Yes, because the earth, even though it is round, is an enormous sphere, and each little part of this enormous sphere, when it is looked at, appears to be flat. As that is the case, this will dispel what they mentioned of confusion. The evidence for that is the verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And the mountains as pegs” [an-Naba’ 78:7]. He called them awtaad (pegs) even though these mountains may have large flat surfaces. And the same is true in this case."
A later classic Sunni commentary, the Tafsir al-Jalalayn written in the early 16th century says "As for His words sutihat, ‘laid out flat’, this on a literal reading suggests that the earth is flat, which is the opinion of most of the scholars of the [revealed] Law, and not a sphere as astronomers (ahl al-hay’a) have it, even if this [latter] does not contradict any of the pillars of the Law." Other translations render "made flat" as "spread out".
Ming China
As late as 1595, an early Jesuit missionary to China, Matteo Ricci, recorded that the Chinese say: "The earth is flat and square, and the sky is a round canopy; they did not succeed in conceiving the possibility of the antipodes."] The universal belief in a flat Earth is confirmed by a contemporary Chinese encyclopedia from 1609 illustrating a flat Earth extending over the horizontal diametral plane of a spherical heaven.
In the 17th century, the idea of a spherical Earth spread in China due to the influence of the Jesuits, who held high positions as astronomers at the imperial court.
Modern incarnation
In 1956, Samuel Shenton, a signwriter by trade, created the International Flat Earth Society as a successor to the Universal Zetetic Society and ran it as "organizing secretary" from his home in Dover, in Britain. Because of Shenton's interest in alternative science and technology, the emphasis on religious arguments was less than in the predecessor society.
This was just before the launch of the first artificial satellite, and when satellite images taken from outer space showed the Earth as a sphere rather than flat, the society was undaunted; Shenton remarked: "It's easy to see how a photograph like that could fool the untrained eye."
However it was not until the advent of manned spaceflight that Shenton managed to attract wide publicity, being featured in The New York Times in January and June 1964, when the epithet "flat-earther" was also slung across the floor of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in both directions.[citation needed]
The society also took the position that the Apollo Moon landings were a hoax staged by Hollywood, a position also held by others not connected to the Flat Earth Society.
In 1969, Shenton persuaded Ellis Hillman, a Polytechnic lecturer, to become president of the Flat Earth Society, but there is little evidence of any activity on his part until after Shenton's death, when he added most of Shenton's library to the archives of the Science Fiction Foundation which he helped to establish.
Historical accounts and spoken history tell us the Land part may have been square, all in one mass at one time, then as now, the magnetic north being the Center. Vast cataclysmic events and shaking no doubt broke the land apart, divided the Land to be our present continents or islands as they exist today. One thing we know for sure about this world...the known inhabited world is Flat, Level, a Plain World.
-Flyer written by Charles K. Johnson, 1984.
Shenton died in 1971 and Charles K. Johnson, inheriting part of Shenton's library from Shenton's wife, established and became the president of the International Flat Earth Research Society of America and Covenant People's Church in California. Under his leadership, over the next three decades, the Flat Earth Society grew in size from a few members to a reported 3,500.Johnson distributed newsletters, flyers, maps, and other promotional materials to anyone who asked for them, and managed all membership applications together with his wife, Marjory. The most famous of these newsletters was Flat Earth News. Johnson paid for these publications through annual dues of members costing US$6 to US$10 over the course of his leadership. Johnson's beliefs were based on the Bible; he viewed scientists as pulling off a hoax which would replace religion with science.
United Nations flag
The most recent world model propagated by the Flat Earth Society holds that humanity lives on a disc, with the North Pole at its center and a 150-foot (45 m) high wall of ice at the outer edge. The resulting map resembles the symbol of the United Nations, which Johnson used as evidence for his position. In this model, the sun and moon are each 32 miles (52 km) in diameter.
The Flat Earth Society recruited members by attacking the United States government and all of its agencies, particularly NASA. Much of the society’s literature in its early days focused on interpreting the Bible literally to mean that the Earth is flat, although they did attempt to offer scientific explanations and evidence.
Life-Skills my Dad Taught Me:
▪️How to tie my shoes.
▪️How to speak Yiddish.
▪️How to solder.
▪️How to make Gunpowder.
▪️How to hold a 10x Jewelers Loupe to my eye & look at a Diamond.
▪️How to carve a Pinewood-Derby-Race-Car & weight it to glide faster.
▪️How to find & open a “Concretion” fossil from The Peabody Coal Mines
▪️How to hammer a nail.
▪️How to alert a Cashier if they give you incorrect Change back.
▪️How to tie a Windsor-knot.(half and Full Windsor knot)
▪️How to make melted-cheese-on-Toast-in-a-broiler.
▪️How to get FOUR slices from a bagel.
▪️How to properly /+ expertly Parallel Park a Car.
▪️How to look for diamonds that had fallen out of his pants cuffs onto the bedroom carpet.
▪️
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did, but people will never forget
how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
One's life - is not summarized by a tally of those who show up to attend a Funeral, or
sign a Guest Book online,
but- I certainly "know"- that my Dad- the one who showed me so many things,
taught me so many life lessons,
would have wanted,
the "Love"- he put out in the Universe-
to be reciprocated-
by the simple act,
of taking minute to compose
your thoughts, prayers and feelings about
a kinda guy - that-
they don't make, anymore-
Edward Kramer !
I miss you Pops!
Is it considered #Wanderlust if immediately after every return from a voyage that has taught you new things about other cultures, other people and most importantly about yourself, you feel the desire to go explore again?
Fly away.
Walk away.
Live free.
#ebenezer #bassenge #eben #bissingen #latourebenezer #travel #travelling #sunset #clouds #dusk #mythologicalbeast #griffon #liège #Luik #inspireme #inspirational #airplane #flyaway #digitalnomad #sky #harrypotter #manticore #wingedlion #wings #magicalbeasts
Made on top of the tower of Eben Ezer. Go visit this bizar tower build by a visionary artist.
I took a Night Photography class sponsored by Desert Botanical Garden and taught by Ryan Parra - a photography professor at Mesa Community College and Arizona State University. I learned a lot and practiced a lot. I really feel that I had improved significantly by the end of the class. One big problem with classes like this is keeping other photographers out of the frame.
This HYBYCOZO sculpture is titled Inner Orbit. It seems to be the masterpiece of the installation. It is in a special area that is restricted during the day. Any correction will be appreciated. I especially love it at night with the lights and shadows.
dbg.org/events/light-bloom/2024-10-12/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFelgzzzQqg
LIGHT BLOOM by HYBYCOZO is a limited-time exhibit where nature and light converge. This mesmerizing display invites you to explore the Garden transformed by stunning geometric light installations that illuminate the beauty of the desert landscape in a new way. As the sun sets, LIGHT BLOOM comes to life, casting intricate shadows and vibrant hues across the Garden. Wander the trails and let the enchanting installations transport you to a magical realm where the natural world meets the abstract.
HYBYCOZO is the collaborative studio of artists Serge Beaulieu and Yelena Filipchuk. Based in Los Angeles, their work consists of larger than life geometric sculptures, often with pattern and texture that draw on inspirations from mathematics, science, and natural phenomena. Typically illuminated, the work celebrates the inherent beauty of form and pattern and represents their ongoing journey in exploring the myriad dimensions of geometry. HYBYCOZO is short for the Hyperspace Bypass Construction Zone, a nod to their favorite novel (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) and was the title of their first installation in 2014. They continue to create under this name. In the novel earth was being destroyed to make way for a bypass. It lead Serge and Yelena to ask what it means to make art at a time where the earth’s hospitable time in the universe may be limited.
dbg.org/meet-the-artists-behind-light-bloom/
Q: Walk us through your creative process?
A: The focus of our creative process is to explore the intricate interplay between geometry, light, space and to inspire contemplation, wonder and a sense of place among our audiences. Geometry and pattern-making serve as the backbone of our creative expression. It is the framework through which we navigate the complexities of form, proportion and spatial relationships. Patterns, both simple and complex, have a profound impact on our perception and understanding of the world. They possess the ability to evoke a sense of order, balance and aesthetic pleasure. Pattern making and geometry offer us a means of storytelling and communication. These patterns serve as conduits for deeper exploration, provoking introspection and contemplation to uncover the underlying symbols embedded within the human psyche.
Q: What inspired the concept of LIGHT BLOOM?
A: Just as many cactus and desert plants have evolved to produce night-blooming flowers, adapting to their environment and thriving in darkness, our sculptures come alive after sunset, blossoming with light and transforming the night into a glowing landscape of art and geometry.
Desert Botanical Garden has an incredible collection of plants and cacti arranged in a beautiful park setting.
"Think the desert is all dirt and tumbleweeds? Think again. Desert Botanical Garden is home to thousands of species of cactus, trees and flowers from all around the world spread across 55 acres in Phoenix, Arizona."
Desert Botanical Garden
DBG HYBYCOZO Light Bloom
Orpheus and Eurydice
Orpheus was the son of Apollo and the muse Calliope. He was
presented by his father with a lyre and taught to play upon it,
and he played to such perfection that nothing could withstand the
charm of his music. Not only his fellow mortals, but wild beasts
were softened by his strains, and gathering round him laid by
their fierceness, and stood entranced with his lay. Nay, the
very trees and rocks were sensible to the charm. The former
crowded round him and the latter relaxed somewhat of their
hardness, softened by his notes.
Hymen had been called to bless with his presence the nuptials of
Orpheus with Eurydice; but though he attended, he brought no
happy omens with him. His very torch smoked and brought tears
into their eyes. In coincidence with such prognostics Eurydice,
shortly after her marriage, while wandering with the nymphs, her
companions, was seen by the shepherd Aristaeus, who was struck
with her beauty, and made advances to her. She fled, and in
flying trod upon a snake in the grass, was bitten in the foot and
died. Orpheus sang his grief to all who breathed the upper air,
both gods and men, and finding it all unavailing resolved to seek
his wife in the regions of the dead. He descended by a cave
situated on the side of the promontory of Taenarus and arrived at
the Stygian realm. He passed through crowds of ghosts, and
presented himself before the throne of Pluto and Proserpine.
Accompanying the words with the lyre, he sung,
"O deities of the
underworld, to whom all we who live must come, hear my words, for
they are true! I come not to spy out the secrets of Tartarus,
nor to try my strength against the three-headed dog with snaky
hair who guards the entrance. I come to seek my wife, whose
opening years the poisonous viper's fang has brought to an
untimely end. Love had led me here, Love, a god all powerful
with us who dwell on the earth, and, if old traditions say true,
not less so here. I implore you by these abodes full of terror,
these realms of silence and uncreated things, unite again the
thread of Eurydice's life. We all are destined to you, and
sooner or later must pass to your domain. She too, when she
shall have filled her term of life, will rightly be yours. But
till then grant her to me, I beseech you. If you deny me, I
cannot return alone; you shall triumph in the death of us both."
As he sang these tender strains, the very ghosts shed tears.
Tantalus, in spite of his thirst, stopped for a moment his
efforts for water, Ixion's wheel stood still, the vulture ceased
to tear the giant's liver, the daughters of Danaus rested from
their task of drawing water in a sieve, and Sisyphus sat on his
rock to listen. Then for the first time, it is said, the cheeks
of the Furies were wet with tears. Proserpine could not resist,
and Pluto himself gave way. Eurydice was called. She came from
among the new-arrived ghosts, limping with her wounded foot.
Orpheus was permitted to take her away with him on one condition,
that he should not turn round to look at her till they should
have reached the upper air.
Under this condition they proceeded
on their way, he leading, she following, through passages dark
and steep, in total silence, till they had nearly reached the
outlet into the cheerful upper world, when Orpheus, in a moment
of forgetfulness, to assure himself that she was still following,
cast a glance behind him, when instantly she was borne away.
Stretching out their arms to embrace one another they grasped
only the air. Dying now a second time she yet cannot reproach
her husband, for how can she blame his impatience to behold her?
"Farewell," she said, "a last farewell," and was hurried away,
so fast that the sound hardly reached his ears.
Orpheus endeavored to follow her, and besought permission to
return and try once more for her release but the stern ferryman
repulsed him and refused passage. Seven days he lingered about
the brink, without food or sleep; then bitterly accusing of
cruelty the powers of Erebus, he sang his complaints to the rocks
and mountains, melting the hearts of tigers and moving the oaks
from their stations. He held himself aloof from womankind,
dwelling constantly on the recollection of his sad mischance.
The Thracian maidens tried their best to captivate him, but he
repulsed their advances. They bore with him as long as they
could; but finding him insensible, one day, one of them, excited
by the rites of Bacchus, exclaimed, "See yonder our despiser!"
and threw at him her javelin. The weapon, as soon as it came
within the sound of his lyre, fell harmless at his feet. So did
also the stones that they threw at him. But the women raised a
scream and drowned the voice of the music, and then the missiles
reached him and soon were stained with his blood. The maniacs
tore him limb from limb, and threw his head and his lyre into the
river Hebrus, down which they floated, murmuring sad music, to
which the shores responded a plaintive symphony. The Muses
gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them at
Libethra, where the nightingale is said to sing over his grave
more sweetly than in any other part of Greece. His lyre was
placed by Jupiter among the stars. His shade passed a second
time to Tartarus, where he sought out his Eurydice and embraced
her, with eager arms. They roam through those happy fields
together now, sometimes he leads, sometimes she; and Orpheus
gazes as much as he will upon her, no longer incurring a penalty
for a thoughtless glance.
..................................................................................................................................................................
Models: Constantinos & Panayiota
Place: Konnos, Famagusta region, Cyprus
Assistant photographer: Frixos Markou
Lyre: constructed by Constantinos Sophocleous
...................................................................................................................................................................
***PLEASE DO NOT USE MY PICTURES WITHOUT MY PERMISSION***
© Andreas Constantinou
www.facebook.com/pages/Andreas-Constantinou-Photography/1...
Photos by Miller Taylor.
August 2016 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Weird) with guest speaker Tarish Pipkins.
Tarish Pipkins a.k.a. Jeghetto, is a self-taught artist and has been creating art from a very young age. In the late 90s Tarish joined the BridgeSpotters Collective and became known for his live paintings and poetry.
He moved to North Carolina in 2005 where he launched his career in puppetry. There he fine-tuned his skills by doing street performances with his puppets. In 2008 he started working with Paperhand Puppet Intervention. He has built puppets and performed in several Paperhand productions.
Tarish is now a teacher at Just Right Academy, a private alternative school for children with special needs. Tarish is married and a proud father of five children. Jeghetto’s passion is promoting Oneness through the magic of puppetry.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Remedy, for video production, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, and Neomonde Mediterranean, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks.
moses was a street rescue. about five years ago, my friend who taught special education in bushwick noticed one of her students peeking into his desk a lot during class. she asked him what was up and he had to confess - he had a tiny, tiny kitten, not more than a week or two old, hidden in his desk. he'd found her, no mama cat in sight, under a car earlier that day and his own mama wouldn't let him keep her, so his plan was to keep her in his desk at school.
my friend suggested the alternative plan that she take her instead, nursing her in until she could find a good home. for weeks, she fed the impossibly tiny kitty from an eyedropper. back then, catty was our lone feline companion, but we met this kitten, then called "little blue" because of her eyes, which were then a sort of teal shade, and started to think maybe catty would appreciate some feline companionship. that's how we adopted tiny moses, so named because (a) the vet told us she was a boy and (b) she imposed her will on everything around her, including us, catty, and the contents of our apartment (a la robert moses) and (c) she was abandoned, like the big moses himself. anyway, this is a long way of saying that little mo hasn't been outside since the day she was found under that car in bushwick.
until today. here she is with her first peek out the door, right before some very carefully supervised blissful time on the patio, watching birds, smelling things, soaking in the sun, shedding, and generally having a fantastic time. made me feel like a real good cat mama, assuaging the guilt i often feel for cooping the girls up in a near-windowless apartment. (catty hasn't yet expressed an interest in any voyages out, but she will).
(because we're on the second floor, we don't think there's a way she can get away from here. but she is a cat, so we're still not letting her roam totally free, and plan to get her tags and a collar just in case.)
update: mo made explore!
School sports are being taught as seen in "Die Schule im Walde" (The School in the Forest.) This book is a German children's classic first published in 1931. It was written by Adolf Holst and illustrated by Else Wenz-Vietor.
"The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. Then he said to them, ‘You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while’; for there were so many coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat. So they went off in a boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But people saw them going, and many could guess where; and from every town they all hurried to the place on foot and reached it before them. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length."
– Mark 6:30-34, which is today's Gospel at Mass (16th Sunday in Ordinary Time).
Detail from the bronze doors of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Holy Land.
Brockdish is one of three parish churches within about a mile that can be seen from the A143, but only the top of the tower is visible when heading north, and only fleetingly. THe only other clue is the truncated Church Lane which cuts across the main road, the name of which indicates the nearby church.
I came here at about eleven in the morning, having visited Oulton in Suffolk earlier, and wasn't expecting to find it open to be honest. But I heard the bells being rung, or at least pealing in intermittent intervals, the reason being some people were being given lessons.
Three cars were parked in the lane beside the church, which you reach by traveling up a green lane north out of the village before taking the track to the church.
The door to the tower, where the bellringers were being taught was ajar, and I could have gone up, but instead I go to the porch to try the door, and finding it open, I go inside lest someone comes and closes it.
Soon I am joined inside by the warden who is surprised, but pleased, to find a visitor: she is there to make teas for the ringers, and would I like one?
My breath had already been taken away by the tiles in the chancel, which are of exceptional quality. Tiles are something easily overlooked, and indeed many were clearly bought from catalogues, and so many are similar, but when more attention to detail was given, when extra quality was installed, it shines through.
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When I first visited this church in 2005, it was with something of a sinking heart to arrive at the third church in a row that was locked without a keyholder notice. Today, nothing could be further from the truth. In the south porch there is a large notice now which reads Come in and enjoy your church! Fabulous stuff.
The trim graveyard includes some substantial memorials to the Kay family, including one massive structure with an angel under a spire which would not look out of place opposite the Royal Albert Hall. No expense was spared by the Victorians here at Brockdish. The rebuilding was paid for by the Rector, George France, who also advised architect Frederick Marable on exactly what form this vision of the medieval should take. The tower above is curiously un-East Anglian, looking rather unusual surrounded by Norfolk fields. All around the building headstops are splendid, and fine details like faux-consecration crosses on the porch show that France was generally a man who knew what a medieval church should look like.
It will not surprise you to learn that St Peter and St Paul is similarly grand on the inside, if a touch severe. France actually devised a church much more Anglo-catholic than we find it today; it was toned down by the militantly low church Kay family later in the century. They took down the rood and replaced it with a simple cross, painting out the figures on the rood screen as well. When I first visited, the very helpful churchwarden who'd opened up for me observed that Brockdish is the only church in Norfolk that has stained glass in every window, which isn't strictly true (Harleston, three miles away, has as well) but we can be thankful that, thanks to the Reverend France's fortunes, it is of a very good quality. The glass seems to have been an ongoing project, because some of it dates from the 1920s. In keeping with low church tradition, the glass depicts mainly Biblical scenes and sayings of Christ rather than Saints, apart from the church's two patron Saints in the east window of the chancel. There are also some roundels in the east window of the south aisle, which appear to be of continental glass. They depict the Adoration of the Magi, the deposition of Christ, what appears to be Paharoah's daughter with the infant Moses, and the heads of St Matthias, St John the Evangelist, and Christ with a Crown of Thorns. However, I suspect that at least some of them are the work of the King workshop of Norwich, and that only the Deposition and the Old Testament scene are genuinely old.
If this is rather a gloomy church on a dark day, it is because of the glass in the south clerestory, a surprisingly un-medieval detail - the whole point of a clerestory was to let light reach the rood. The glass here is partly heraldic, partly symbolic. The stalls in the chancel are another faux-medieval detail - there was never a college of Priests here - but they looked suspiciously as if they might contain old bench ends within the woodwork. Not all is false, because the chancel also contains an unusual survival from the earlier church, a tombchest which may have been intended as an Easter Sepulchre.
Above all, the atmosphere is at once homely and devotional, not least because of the exceptional quality of the tiled sanctuary, an increasingly rare beast because they were so often removed in the 1960s and 1970s, when Victorian interiors were unfashionable. Brockdish's is spectacular, a splendid example that has caught the attention of 19th century tile enthusiasts and experts nationally.
Also tiled is the area beneath the tower, which France had reordered as a baptistery. The font has recently been moved back into the body of the church; presumably, whoever supplies the church's liability insurance had doubts about godparents standing with their backs to the steps down into the nave.
I liked Brockdish church a lot; I don't suppose it gets a lot of visitors, but it is a fine example of what the Victorians did right.
Simon Knott, June 2005, revisited and updated July 2010
www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/brockdish/brockdish.htm
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Is the next adjoining town eastward, through which the great road passes to Yarmouth; on the left hand of which, stands the church, on a hill by itself, there being no house near it but the parsonage, which joins to the east side of the churchyard. The advowson always belonged to the Earl's manor here, with which it now continues.
In Norwich Domesday we read, that the rector had a house and 30 acres of land, that it was then valued at 15 marks, and paid as it now doth for synodals 1s. 9d. procurations 6s. 8d. and 12d. Peter-pence. It stands in the King's Books thus:
10l. Brokedish rectory. 1l. yearly tenths.
And consequently pays first-fruits, and is incapable of augmentation. The church stands included in the glebe, which is much the same in quantity as it was when the aforesaid survey was taken. It is in Norfolk archdeaconry, Redenhall deanery, and Duke of Norfolk's liberty, though he hath no lete, warren, paramountship, or superiour jurisdiction at all in this town, the whole being sold by the family along with the manors of the town.
In 1603, there were 103 communicants here, and now there are 50 families, and about 300 inhabitants; it was laid to the ancient tenths at 4l. but had a constant deduction of 14s. on account of lands belonging to the religious, so that the certain payment to each tenth, was 3l. 6s.
The Prior of St. Faith at Horsham owned lands here, which were taxed at 2s. 6d. in 1428.
The Prior of Thetford monks had lands here of the gift of Richard de Cadomo or Caam, (fn. 1) who gave them his land in Brokedis, and a wood sufficient to maintain 20 swine, in the time of King Henry I. when William Bigot, sewer to that King, gave to this priory all the land of Sileham, which from those monks is now called Monks-hall manor, and the water-mill there; all which Herbert Bishop of Norwich conveyed to his father, in exchange for other lands, he being to hold it in as ample a manner as ever Herbert the chaplain did; and in Ric. the Second's time, the monks bought a piece of marsh ground in Brokedis, to make a way to their mill, which being not contained in the grant of Monks-hall manor from Hen. VIII. to the Duke of Norfolk, William Grice, Esq. and Charles Newcomen, who had a grant of such lands as they could find concealed from the Crown, seized on this as such; and upon their so doing, the owner of the mill was obliged to purchase it of them, by the name of Thetford-Mill-Way, and it hath ever since belonged to, and is constantly repaired by the owner thereof.
Rectors of Brockidish.
12 - - Robert
12 - - Sir Ralf de Creping, rector.
1313, Sir Stephen Bygod. The King, for this turn.
1324, Nic. le Mareschal. Tho. Earl of Norfolk and Marshal.
1326, Mathew Paumer, or Palmer. Ditto. He changed for Canefield-Parva in London diocese with
Master Robert de Hales. Ditto.
1333, John de Melburn. Ditto.
1355, Roger de Wombwell. Lady Eleanor and Thomas de Wingfield, attorneys to Sir John Wingfield, Knt.
1356, John Knyght of Exeter. Mary Countess-Marshal, widow of Tho. de Brotherton, who recovered the advowson by the King's writ, against Sir J. Wingfield, Knt. and Thomas his brother, William de Lampet and Alice his wife, and Catherine her sister, and so Wombwell was ejected.
1357, John de Esterford. Mary Countess-Marshal. He resigned in
1367, to John son of Catherine de Frenge, and he in
1368, to John Syward. Sir Walter Lord Manney.
1382, John de Balsham, who changed for Stowe St. Michael in Exeter diocese, with
Bartholomew Porter. Margaret Marshal, Countess of Norfolk.
1405, Sir John Dalyngho of Redcnhall. Eliz. Dutchess of Norf. in right of her dower.
1417, he exchanged with Thomes Barry, priest, for the vicarage of Berkyng church in London. John Lancaster, Ric. Sterisacre, and Rob. Southwell, attorneys to John Duke of Norfolk, EarlMarshal and Notyngham, who was beyond the seas. Barry resigned in
1422, to Sir Thomas Briggs, priest, who died rector. Ditto.
1454, Sir Hen. White, priest. John Duke of Norf. Earl-Marshal and Notingham, Marshal of England, Lord Mowbray, Segrave, and Gower. He resigned in
1455, to Sir Thomas Holm, priest. Ditto. And he in
1478, to John Nun. The King, as guardian to Richard Duke of York and Norfolk, and Lady Ann his wife, daughter and heir of John late Duke of Norfolk.
1491, John Mene; he had a union to hold another benefice.
1497, John Rogers, A. M. Eliz. Dutchess of Norfolk. He resigned in
1498, to Sir John Fisk, priest, chaplain to the Dutchess. Ditto. At whose death in
1511, Sir Robert Gyrlyng, chaplain to Thomas Earl of Surrey, had it of that Earl's gift: he was succeeded by
Sir William Flatberry, chaplain to Thomas Duke of Norfolk, who presented him; he resigned in
1540, to Sir Nic. Stanton, chaplain to his patron, Tho. Duke of Norf. Lord Treasurer and Earl-Marshal, and was succeeded by
William Hide, priest. Ditto. He resigned, and the Duke presented it in
1561, to Sir John Inman, priest, who was buried here Aug. 1, 1586.
1586, Aug. 4, Master Richard Gibson was instituted, who was buried Oct. 1, 1625; he was presented by Robert Nichols of Cambridge, by purchase of the turn from William le Grice, Gent. and Hester le Grice, wife of Charles le Grice, Gent. true patrons.
1625, William Owles, who held it united to Billingford. John Knapp of Brockdish, by grant of this turn. He was succeeded in
1645, by Brian Witherel, and he by
Mr. James Aldrich, who died rector Nov. 10, 1657, from which time somebody held it without institution, till the Restoration, and then receded, for in
1663, May 14, Sir Augustine Palgrave, patron of this turn, in right of Catherine his wife, presented George Fish, on the cession of the last incumbent; he was buried here Oct. 29, 1686.
1686, Thomas Palgrave, A.M. buried here March 24, 1724. Fran. Laurence, Gent.
1724, Abel Hodges, A.B. he held it united to Tharston, and died in 1729. Richard Meen, apothecary, for this turn.
1729, Richard Clark, LL. B. was instituted Dec. 3, and died about six weeks after. Mrs. Ellen Laurence of Castleacre, widow.
1730, Alan Fisher. Ditto. He resigned in
1738, and was succeeded by Robert Laurence, A. B. of Caius college, who lies buried at the south-east corner of the chancel, and was succeeded in
1739, by Francis Blomefield, clerk, the present rector, who holds it united to Fresfield rectory, being presented by Mrs. Ellen Laurence aforesaid.
The church is dedicated to the honour of the apostles St. Peter and Paul, and hath a square tower about 16 yards high, part of which was rebuilt with brick in 1714; there are five bells; the third, which is said to have been brought from Pulham in exchange, hath this on it;
Sancta Maria ora pro nobis.
and on the fourth is this,
Uirgo Coronata duc nos ad Regna beata.
The nave, chancel, and south isle are leaded, the south porch tiled, and the north porch is ruinated. The roof of this chancel is remarkable for its principals, which are whole trees without any joint, from side to side, and bent in such a rising manner, as to be agreeable to the roof. The chancel is 30 feet long and 20 broad, the nave is 54 feet long and 32 broad, and the south isle is of the same length, and 10 feet broad.
At the west end of the nave is a black marble thus inscribed,
Here lyeth buried the Body of Richard Wythe Gent. who departed this Life the 6 of Sept. 1671, who lived 64 Years and 4 Months and 9 Days.
This family have resided here till lately, ever since Edw. the Third's time, and had a considerable estate here, and the adjacent villages. See their arms, vol. iv. p. 135.
Another marble near the desk hath this,
Near this Place lays Elizabeth Wife of John Moulton Gent. who died Oct. 31, 1716, aged 32 Years. And here lieth Mary the late Wife of John Moulton, who died March 20, 1717, aged 27 Years. And also here lyeth the Body of John Moulton Gent. who died June 12, 1718, aged 38 Years.
Moulton's arms and crest as at vol. iv. p. 501.
In a north window are the arms of De la Pole quartering Wingfield.
In 1465, Jeffry Wurliche of Brockdish was buried here, and in 1469 John Wurliche was interred in the nave, and left a legacy to pave the bottom of the steeple. In 1518, Henry Bokenham of Brockdish was buried in the church, as were many of the Spaldings, (fn. 2) Withes, Howards, Grices, Tendrings, and Laurences; who were all considerable owners and families of distinction in this town.
The chapel at the east end of the south isle was made by Sir Ralf Tendring of Brockdish, Knt. whose arms remain in its east window at this day, once with, and once without, a crescent az. on the fess, viz. az. a fess between two chevrons arg.
His altar monument stands against the east wall, north and south, and hath a sort of cupola over it, with a holy-water stope by it, and a pedestal for the image of the saint to which it was dedicated, to stand on, so that it served both for a tomb and an altar; the brass plates of arms and circumscription are lost.
On the north side, between the chapel and nave, stands another altar tomb, covered with a most curious marble disrobed of many brass plates of arms and its circumscription, as are several other stones in the nave, isle, and chancel. This is the tomb of John Tendring of Brockdish-hall, Esq. who lived there in 1403, and died in 1436, leaving five daughters his heirs, so that he was the last male of this branch of the Tendrings. Cecily his wife is buried by him.
On the east chancel wall, on the south side of the altar, is a white marble monument with this,
Obdormit hìc in Domino, lætam in Christo expectans Resurrectionem, Robertus, Roberti Laurence, ac Annæ Uxoris ejus, Filius, hujusce Ecclesiæ de Brockdish in Comitatû Norfolciensi Rector, ejusdem Villæ Dominus, ac Ecclesiæ Patronus, jure hereditario (si vixîsset) Futurus; Sed ah! Fato nimium immaturo abreptus; Cœlestia per Salvatoris merita sperans, Terrestria omnia, Juvenis reliquit. Dec. 31°. Anno æræ Christianæ mdccxxxixo. Ætatis xxvo. Maria, unica Soror et Hæres, Roberti Frankling Generosi Uxor, Fraterni Amoris hoc Testimonium animo grato, Memoriæ Sacrum posuit.
1. Laurence, arg. a cross raguled gul. on a chief gul. a lion passant guardant or.
2. Aslack, sab. a chevron erm. between three catherine-wheels arg.
3. Lany, arg. on a bend between two de-lises gul. a mullet of the field for difference.
4. Cooke, or, on a chevron ingrailed gul. a crescent of the field for difference, between three cinquefoils az. on a chief of the second, a lion passant guardant of the first.
5. Bohun, gul. a crescent erm. in an orle of martlets or.
6. Bardolf, az. three cinquefoils or.
7. Ramsey, gul. a chevron between three rams heads caboshed arg.
8. as 1.
Crest, a griffin seiant proper.
Motto, Floreat ut Laurus.
On a flat stone under this monument, is a brass plate thus inscribed,
Sacrum hoc Memoriæ Roberti Laurence Armigeri, qui obijt xxviijo die Julij 1637, Elizabeth Uxor ejus, Filia Aslak Lany Armigeri posuit.
Arms on a brass plate are,
Lawrence impaling Lany and his quarterings, viz. 1, Lany. 2, Aslack. 3, Cooke. 4, Bohun. 5, nine de-lises, 3, 3, and 3. 6, Bardolf. 7, Charles. 8, on a chevron three de-lises. 9, Ramsey. 10, Tendring. 11, on a fess two coronets. 12, Wachesam, arg. a fess, in chief two crescents gul. 13, a lion rampant. 14, Lany.
There is a picture of this Robert drawn in 1629, æt. 36. He built the hall in 1634; it stands near half a mile north-east of the church, and was placed near the old site of Brockdishe's-hall; the seat of the Tendrings, whose arms, taken out of the old hall when this was built, were fixed in the windows. The arms of this man and his wife, and several of their quarterings, are carved on the wainscot in the rooms.
On the south side of the churchyard is an altar tomb covered with a black marble, with the crest and arms of
Sayer, or Sawyer, gul. a chief erm. and a chevron between three seamews proper.
Crest, a hand holding a dragon's head erased proper.
To the Memory of Frances late the wife of Richard Tubby Esq. who departed this Life Dec. 22, 1728, in the 60th Year of her Age.
And adjoining is another altar tomb,
In Memory of Richard Tubby Esq. (fn. 3) who died Dec. 10th. 1741, in the 80th Year of his Age.
There are two other altar tombs in the churchyard, one for Mr. Rich. Chatton, and another for Eliz. daughter of Robert and Eliz. Harper, who died in 1719, aged 8 years.
The town takes its name from its situation on the Waveney or Wagheneye, which divides this county from that of Suffolk; the channel of which is now deep and broad, though nothing to what it was at that time, as is evident from the names of places upon this river, as the opposite vill, now called Sileham, (oftentimes wrote Sayl-holm, even to Edw. the Third's time) shows; for I make no doubt, but it was then navigable for large boats and barges to sail up hither, and continued so, till the sea by retiring at Yarmouth, and its course being stopt near Lowestoft, had not that influence on the river so far up, as it had before; which occasioned the water to retire, and leave much land dry on either side of the channel; though it is so good a stream, that it might with ease, even now, be made navigable hither; and it would be a good work, and very advantageous to all the adjacent country. That [Brod-dic] signifies no more than the broad-ditch, is very plain, and that the termination of ò, eau, or water, added to it, makes it the broad ditch of water, is as evident.
Before the Confessor's time, this town was in two parts; Bishop Stigand owned one, and the Abbot of Bury the other; the former afterwards was called the Earl's Manor, from the Earls of Norfolk; and the other Brockdishe's-hall, from its ancient lords, who were sirnamed from the town.
The superiour jurisdiction, lete, and all royalties, belonged to the Earl's manor, which was always held of the hundred of Earsham, except that part of it which belonged to Bury abbey, and that belonged to the lords of Brockdishe's-hall; but when the Earl's manor was sold by the Duke of Norfolk, with all royalties of gaming, fishing, &c. together with the letes, view of frankpledge, &c. free and exempt from his hundred of Earsham, and the two manors became joined as they now are, the whole centered in the lord of the town, who hath now the sole jurisdiction with the lete, belonging to it; and the whole parish being freehold, on every death or alienation, the new tenant pays a relief of a year's freehold rent, added to the current year: The annual free-rent, without such reliefs, amounting to above 3l. per annum. At the Conqueror's survey the town was seven furlongs long, and five furlongs and four perches broad, and paid 6d. to the geld or tax. At the Confessor's survey, there were 28 freemen here, six of which held half a carucate of land of Bishop Stigand, and the others held 143 acres under the Abbot of Bury, and the Abbot held the whole of Stigand, without whose consent the freemen could neither give away, nor sell their land, but were obliged to pay him 40s. a year free-rent; (fn. 4) and if they omitted paying at the year's end, they forfeited their lands, or paid their rent double; but in the Conqueror's time they paid 16l. per annum by tale. There were two socmen with a carucate of land, two villeins and two bordars here, which were given to Bury abbey along with the adjacent manor of Thorp-Abbots, but were after severed from that manor, and infeoffed by the Abbot of Bury in the lord of Brockdishe's-hall manor, with which it passed ever after. (fn. 5)
Brockdish-Earl's Manor, or Brockdish Comitis.
This manor always attended the manor of Forncet after it was granted from the Crown to the Bygods, along with the half hundred of Earsham, for which reason I shall refer you to my account of that manor at p. 223, 4. It was mostly part of the dower of the ladies of the several noble families that it passed through, and the living was generally given to their domestick chaplains. In 3 Edward I. the Abbot of Bury tried an action with Roger Bigod, then lord and patron, for the patronage; (fn. 6) pleading that a part of the town belonged to his house, and though they had infeoffed their manor here in the family of the Brockdishes, yet the right in the advowson remained in him; but it appearing that the advowson never belonged to the Abbot's manor, before the feofment was made, but that it wholly was appendant ever since the Confessor's time, to the Earl's manor, the Abbot was cast: notwithstanding which in 1335, Sir John Wingfield, Knt. and Thomas his brother, William de Lampet and Alice his wife, and Catherine her sister, owners of Brockdishe's manor, revived the claim to the advowson; and Thomas de Wingfield, and lady Eleanor wife of Sir John Wingfield, presented here, and put up their arms in the church windows, as patrons, which still remain; but Mary Countess Marshal, who then held this manor in dower, brought her quare impedit, and ejected their clerk; since which time, it constantly attended this manor, being always appendant thereto. In 15 Edw. I. Roger Bigot, then lord, had free-warren in all this town, as belonging to this manor, having not only all the royalties of the town, but also the assise of bread and ale, and amerciaments of all the tenants of his own manor, and of the tenants of Reginald de Brockdish, who were all obliged to do suit once a year at the Earl's view of frankpledge and lete in Brockdish; and it continued in the Norfolk family till 1570, and then Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk, obtained license from Queen Elizabeth to sell it; it being held in capite or in chief of the Crown, as part of the barony and honour of the said Duke, who accordingly sold the manor, advowson, free-fishery, and all the place or manor-house, and demean lands; together with the lete, view of frankpledge, liberty of free warren, and all other royalties whatsoever, free and exempt from any jurisdiction or payment to his half hundred of Earsham, to
Charles le Grice, Esq. of Brockdish, and his heirs, who was descended from Sir Rorert le Grys of Langley in Norfolk, Knt. equerry to Ric. I. and Oliva his wife, whose son, Sir Simon le Grys, Knt. of Thurveton, was alive in 1238, and married Agnes daughter and coheir to Augustine son of Richard de Waxtenesham or Waxham, of Waxham in Norfolk, by whom he had Roger le Grys of Thurton, Esq. who lived in the time of Edward I. whose son Thomas le Grice of Thurton, had Roger le Grice of Brockdish, who lived here in 1392; whose son Thomas left John le Grice his eldest son and heir, who married a Bateman, and lies buried in St. John Baptist's church in Norwich; (see vol. iv. p. 127;) but having no male issue, William le Grice of Brockdish, Esq. son of Robert le Grice of Brockdish, his uncle, inherited; he married Sibill, daughter and sole heir of Edmund Singleton of Wingfield in Suffolk, and had
Anthony le Grice of Brockdish, Esq. (fn. 7) who married Margaret, daughter of John Wingfield, Esq. of Dunham, who lived in the place, and died there in 1553, and lies buried in the church, by whom his wife also was interred in 1562. His brother Gilbert Grice of Yarmouth, Gent. (fn. 8) first agreed with the Duke for Brockdish, but died before it was completed; so that Anthony, who was bound with him for performance of the covenants, went on with the purchase for his son,
Charles le Grice aforesaid, (fn. 9) to whom it was conveyed: he married two wives; the first was Susan, daughter and heir of Andrew Manfield, Gent. and Jane his wife, who was buried here in 1564; the second was Hester, daughter of Sir George Blagge, Knt. who held the manor for life; and from these two wives descended the numerous branches of the Grices of Brockdish, Norwich, Wakefield in Yorkshire, &c. He was buried in this church April 12, 1575, and was found to hold his manor of the hundred of Earsham, in free soccage, without any rent or service, and not in capite; and Brockdishe's-hall manor of the King, as of his barony of Bury St. Edmund in Suffolk, which lately belonged to the abbey there, in free soccage, without any rent or service, and not in capite, and
William le Grice, Esq. was his eldest son and heir, who at the death of his mother-in-law, was possessed of the whole estate; for in 1585, William Howard, then lord of Brockdishe's-hall manor, agreed and sold it to this William, and Henry le Grice his brother, and their heirs; but Howard dying the next year, the purchase was not completed till 1598, when Edw. Coppledick, Gent. and other trustees, brought a writ of entry against John son of the said William Howard, Gent. and had it settled absolutely in the Grices, from which time the two manors have continued joined as they are at this day; by Alice, daughter and heiress of Mr. Eyre of Yarmouth; he left
Francis le Grice, Esq. his son and heir, who sold the whole estate, manors, and advowson, to
Robert Laurence of Brockdish, Esq. (fn. 10) who married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard, son of Edmund Anguish of Great-Melton, by whom he had
Robert Laurence, Esq. his son and heir, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Aslack Lany, who survived him, and remarried in 1640, to Richard Smith, Gent. by whom she had one child, Eliz. buried here in 1641: he died July 24, 1637, and lies buried by the altar as aforesaid: he built the present hall, and had divers children, as Aslak Laurence, Robert, born in 1633, buried in 1635, Samuel Laurence, born in 1635, Ellen, born in 1635, Elizabeth, who married William Reynolds of Great-Massingham, Gent. and
Francis Laurence of Brockdish, Esq. his eldest son and heir, who married Ellen, daughter of Thomas Patrick of Castle-acre, Gent. widow of Mathew Halcote of Litcham, Gent. who survived him, and held Brockdish in jointure to her death, which happened Jan. 6, 1741, when she was buried in the nave of Litcham church: they had Frances, and Elizabeth, who died infants; Mary, who died single about 1736, and was buried in the vestry belonging to Castleacre church; Jane, married to Mr. Thomas Shin of Great Dunham, by whom a Thomas, a son, &c. she being dead; Ellen, now widow of Thomas Young of Oxboro, Gent. who died Oct. 1743, leaving issue, the Rev. Mr. Thomas-Patrick Young of Caius college in Cambridge, Benjamin and Mary, and
Samuel Lawrence, Gent. their second son, is now alive and single; and
Robert Lawrence, Esq. their eldest son and heir, is long since dead, but by Anne daughter of John Meriton, late rector of Oxburgh, his wife, he left one son,
Robert Laurence, late rector of Brockdish, who died single, and
Mrs. Mary Laurence, his only sister, who is now living, and married to Robert Frankling, Gent. of Lynn in Norfolk, is the present lord in her right, but they have no issue.
Brockdishe's-Hall Manor,
Belonged to Bury abbey as aforesaid, till the time of Henry I. and then the Abbot infeoffed
Sir Stephen de Brockdish in it, from whom it took its present name; he was to hold it at the 4th part of a knight's fee of that abbey: it contained a capital messuage or manor-house, called now Brockdishe's-hall; 105 acres of land in demean, 12 acres of wood, 8 of meadow, and 4l. 13s. 10d. rents of assise; he left it to
Jeffery de Brockdish his son, and he to
William, his son and heir, who in 1267, by the name of William de Hallehe de Brokedis, or Will. of Brockdish-hall, was found to owe suit and service once in a year with all his tenants, to the lete of the Earl of Norfolk, held here. He left this manor, and the greatest part of his estate in Norwich-Carleton (which he had with Alice Curson his wife) to
Thomas, his son and heir, and the rest of it to Nigel de Brockdish, his younger son; (see p. 102;) Thomas left it to
Reginald, his eldest son and heir, and he to
Sir Stephen de Brockdish, Knt. his son and heir, who was capital bailiff of all the Earl of Norfolk's manors in this county; he was lord about 1329, being succeeded by his son,
Stephen, who by Mary Wingfield his wife, had
Reginald de Brockdish, his son and heir, (fn. 11) to whom he gave Brockdish-hall manor in Burston, (see vol. i. p. 127, vol. ii. p. 506,) but he dying before his father, was never lord here; his two daughters and heiresses inheriting at his father's death, viz.
Alice, married to William de Lampet about 1355, and Catherine some time after, to William son of John de Herdeshull, lord of North Kellesey and Saleby in Lincolnshire, who inherited each a moiety, according to the settlement made by their grandfather, who infeoffed Sir John de Wingfield, Knt. and Eleanor his wife, and Thomas his brother, in trust for them; (fn. 12) soon after, one moiety was settled on Robert Mortimer and Catherine his wife, by John Hemenhale, clerk, and John de Lantony, their trustees; and not long after the whole was united, and belonged to
Sir William Tendring of Stokeneyland, Knt. and Margaret his wife, daughter and coheir of Sir Will. Kerdeston of Claxton in Norfolk, Knt. who were succeeded by their son and heir
Sir John Tendring of Stokeneyland, Knt. who jointly with Agnes his wife, settled it on
Sir Ralf Tendring of Brockdish, Knt. one of their younger sons, who built the old hall (which was pulled down by Robert Lawrence, Esq. when he erected the present house) and the south isle chapel, in which he and Alice his wife are interred; his son,
John Tendring of Brockdish, Esq. who was lord here and of Westhall in Colney, (see p. 5,) and was buried in the said chapel, with Cecily his wife, died in 1436, and left five daughrers, coheiresses, viz.
Cecily, married to Robert Ashfield of Stowlangetot in Suffolk, Esq.
Elizabeth, to Simeon Fincham of Fincham in Norfolk, Esq.
Alice, to Robert Morton.
Joan, to Henry Hall of Helwinton.
Anne, to John Braham of Colney.
Who joined and levied a fine and sold it to
Thomas Fastolff, Esq. and his heirs; and the year following, they conveyed all their lands, &c. in Wigenhall, Tilney, and Islington, to
Sir John Howard, Knt. and his heirs; and vested them in his trustees, who, the year following, purchased the manor of Fastolff to himself and heirs; this Sir John left Brockdish to a younger son,
Robert Howard, Esq. who settled here, and by Isabel his wife had
William Howard of Brockdish, Esq. who was lord in 1469; he had two wives, Alice and Margaret, from whom came a very numerous issue, but
Robert, his son and heir, had this manor, who by Joan his wife had
William Howard, his eldest son and heir, who died in 1566, seized of many lands in Cratfield, Huntingfield, Ubbeston, and Bradfield in Suffolk; and of many lands and tenements here, and in Sileham, &c. having sold this manor the year before his death, to the Grices as aforesaid; but upon the sale, he reserved, all other his estate in Brockdish, in which he dwelt, called Howard's Place, situate on the south side of the entrance of Brockdish-street; which house and farm went to
John Howard, his son and heir, the issue of whose three daughters, Grace, Margaret, and Elizabeth, failing, it reverted to
Mathew, son of William Howard, second brother to the said John Howard their father, whose second son,
Mathew Howard, afterwards owned it; and in 1711, it was owned by a Mathew Howard, and now by
Mr. Bucknall Howard of London, his kinsman (as I am informed.)
The site and demeans of the Earl's manor, now called the place, was sold from the manor by the Grices some time since, and after belonged to Sir Isaac Pennington, alderman of London, (see vol. i. p. 159,) and one of those who sat in judgment on the royal martyr, for which his estate was forfeited at the Restoration, and was given by Car. II. to the Duke of Grafton; and his Grace the present Duke of Grafton, now owns it.
the benefactions to this parish are,
One close called Algorshegge, containing three acres, (fn. 13) and a grove and dove-house formerly built thereon containing about one acre, at the east end thereof; the whole abutting on the King's highway north, and the glebe of Brockdish rectory west: and one tenement abutting on Brockdish-street south, called Seriches, (fn. 14) with a yard on the north side thereof, were given by John Bakon the younger, of Brockdish, son of John Bakon the elder, of Thorp-Abbots; the clear profits to go yearly to pay the tenths and fifteenths for the parish of Brockdish when laid, and when they are not laid, to repair and adorn the parish church there for ever: his will is proved in 1433. There are always to be 12 feoffees, of such as dwell, or are owners in the parish, and when the majority of them are dead, the survivors are to fill up the vacancies.
In 1590, 1 Jan. John Howard, Gent. John Wythe, Gent. William Crickmere and Daniel Spalding, yeomen, officers of Brockdish, with a legacy left to their parish in 1572, by John Sherwood, late of Brokdish, deceased, purchased of John Thruston of Hoxne, Gent. John Thruston his nephew, Thomas Barker, and the inhabitants of Hoxne in Suffolk, one annuity or clear yearly rent-charge of 6s. 8d. issuing out of six acres of land and pasture in Hoxne, in a close called Calston's-close, one head abutting on a way leading from Heckfield-Green to Moles-Cross, towards the east; to the only use and behoof of the poor of Brockdish, to be paid on the first of November in Hoxne church-porch, between 12 and 4 in the afternoon of the same day, with power to distrain and enter immediately for non-payment; the said six acres are warranted to be freehold, and clear of all incumbrances, except another rentcharge of 13s. 4d. granted to Hoxne poor, to be paid at the same day and place
In 1592, John Howard of Brockdish sold to the inhabitants there, a cottage called Laune's, lying between the glebes on all parts; this hath been dilapidated many years, but the site still belongs to the parish.
From the old Town Book.
1553, 1st Queen Mary, paid for a book called a manuel 2s. 6d.; for two days making the altar and the holy-water stope, and for a lock for the font. 1554, paid for the rood 9d. 1555, paid for painting the rood-loft 14d. At the visitation of my Lord Legate 16d. To the organs maker 4d. and for the chalice 26s. 1557, paid for carriage of the Bible to Bocnam 12d. for deliverance of the small books at Harlstone 15d.; the English Bibles and all religious Protestant tracts usually at this time left in the churches for the information and instruction of the common people, being now called in by the Papist Queen. Paid for two images making 5s.; for painting them 16d. for irons for them 8d. But in 1558, as soon as Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne, all these Popish, images, &c. were removed out of the church. Paid for sinking the altar 4d.; carrying out the altar 5d.; mending the communion table 3d.; 1561, paid for the X. Commandments 18d.; for pulling down the rood-loft 14d.; paid Roger Colby repairing the crosse in the street 26s. 8d.; for a lock to the crosse-house, &c.; 1565, for digging the ground and levelling the low altar, (viz. in the south chapel,) and mending the pavement. For makyng the communion cup at Harlston 5s. 4d. besides 6s. 2d. worth of silver more than the old chalice weyed. 1569, paid to Belward the Dean for certifying there is no cover to the cup, 8d. 1657, layd out 19s. 4d. for the relief of Attleburgh, visited with the plague. Laid out 17s. for the repair of the Brockdish part of Sileham bridge, leading over the river to Sileham church. This bridge is now down, through the negligence of both the parishes, though it was of equal service to both, and half of it repaired by each of them. In 1618, the church was wholly new paved and repaired; and in 1619, the pulpit and desk new made, new books, pulpit-cloth, altar-cloth, &c. bought.
From the Register:
1593, Daniel son of Robert Pennington, Gent. bapt. 13 July. 1626, John Brame, Gent. and Anne Shardelowe, widow, married Sept. 2. 1631, John Blomefield and Elizabeth Briges married May 30. 1666, Roger Rosier, Gent. buried. 1735, Henry Blomefield of Fersfield, Gent. single man, and Elizabeth Bateman of Mendham, single woman, married Feb. 27.
www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol5...
Taught their kid some science lectures. Liked their taste, asked to take some pics, they agreed.
Lightbox Press "L" makes it look even better, or just click on the image.
We taught Xziva to go over, under and through things, a treat works wonders :)
Here she is going for her reward.
Where we live there are lots of Dolmen, this is just the remainder of a much bigger Dolmen.
Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other sides without my explicit permission !
© all rights reserved Lily aenee
Our grandson playing one of his three guitars. He is self taught and also plays drums. He loved this photo I created for him.
What does the leaf say?
Leafs absorb light from the environment to transmute into food/energy. Light is information that informs the plant on how to grow.
Leaves teach the importance of receptivity with regards to growth. Being in a receptive state allows us to receive stimulus from our enviormemt, which in turn shows us how to grow.
In chess it wise to think two steps ahead however, one cannot predict the future of the game with certainty. While a player is stuck on his plans from two steps ago, the game has changed. His plan is futile. This is another example of the importance of receptivity and observing your enviormemt.
Receptivity is key to growth and progress, be like a leaf.
#NatureTaughtMe #Nature #AllThingsGreen #AmaluCity
they taught me at school that it's a violin, so I was taken aback when a friend of mine told me about her fiddle lessons etc - I wasn't sure what instrument she was talking about. only later, when I asked her what is the difference between the two, she responded: 'a name!'
I took a Night Photography class sponsored by Desert Botanical Garden and taught by Ryan Parra - a photography professor at Mesa Community College and Arizona State University. I learned a lot and practiced a lot. I really feel that I had improved significantly by the end of the class. One big problem with classes like this is keeping other photographers out of the frame.
This HYBYCOZO sculpture is titled Inner Orbit. It seems to be the masterpiece of the installation. It is in a special area that is restricted during the day. Any correction will be appreciated. I especially love it at night with the lights and shadows.
dbg.org/events/light-bloom/2024-10-12/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFelgzzzQqg
LIGHT BLOOM by HYBYCOZO is a limited-time exhibit where nature and light converge. This mesmerizing display invites you to explore the Garden transformed by stunning geometric light installations that illuminate the beauty of the desert landscape in a new way. As the sun sets, LIGHT BLOOM comes to life, casting intricate shadows and vibrant hues across the Garden. Wander the trails and let the enchanting installations transport you to a magical realm where the natural world meets the abstract.
HYBYCOZO is the collaborative studio of artists Serge Beaulieu and Yelena Filipchuk. Based in Los Angeles, their work consists of larger than life geometric sculptures, often with pattern and texture that draw on inspirations from mathematics, science, and natural phenomena. Typically illuminated, the work celebrates the inherent beauty of form and pattern and represents their ongoing journey in exploring the myriad dimensions of geometry. HYBYCOZO is short for the Hyperspace Bypass Construction Zone, a nod to their favorite novel (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) and was the title of their first installation in 2014. They continue to create under this name. In the novel earth was being destroyed to make way for a bypass. It lead Serge and Yelena to ask what it means to make art at a time where the earth’s hospitable time in the universe may be limited.
dbg.org/meet-the-artists-behind-light-bloom/
Q: Walk us through your creative process?
A: The focus of our creative process is to explore the intricate interplay between geometry, light, space and to inspire contemplation, wonder and a sense of place among our audiences. Geometry and pattern-making serve as the backbone of our creative expression. It is the framework through which we navigate the complexities of form, proportion and spatial relationships. Patterns, both simple and complex, have a profound impact on our perception and understanding of the world. They possess the ability to evoke a sense of order, balance and aesthetic pleasure. Pattern making and geometry offer us a means of storytelling and communication. These patterns serve as conduits for deeper exploration, provoking introspection and contemplation to uncover the underlying symbols embedded within the human psyche.
Q: What inspired the concept of LIGHT BLOOM?
A: Just as many cactus and desert plants have evolved to produce night-blooming flowers, adapting to their environment and thriving in darkness, our sculptures come alive after sunset, blossoming with light and transforming the night into a glowing landscape of art and geometry.
Desert Botanical Garden has an incredible collection of plants and cacti arranged in a beautiful park setting.
"Think the desert is all dirt and tumbleweeds? Think again. Desert Botanical Garden is home to thousands of species of cactus, trees and flowers from all around the world spread across 55 acres in Phoenix, Arizona."
Desert Botanical Garden
DBG HYBYCOZO Light Bloom
enhanced hand-drawing done in colored markers, colored pencils, and felt-tipped fine-line pens
When I taught school, one of the assignments the kids loved was to use a photo of a face from a magazine and to exaggerate/distort it. They had to look at the photo, but the resulting drawing wasn't supposed to look like the person. I kept telling them, "If it looks right, it's wrong."
I had the students draw a 4X5 grid on the photo and gave each a sheet of paper on which I had drawn curvy lines, some close together and some far apart, so when they drew the image into the grid, it would be distorted. The reason I drew the lines was because students would make the lines too dark and made slightly curvy lines that were about equal distance apart and the result wasn't very distorted, I made some spaces very small and some very large. I used some papers about 9X12, but some were longer and thinner and some square. Although I might have more than 100 students, drawing the lines didn't take a lot of time. I did it at home while watching TV or listening to an audio book. Most of their drawings ended up looking much more distorted than the one I show here.
Students colored with colored pencils in colors that a person could not be naturally: purple skin, yellow lips, green hair, etc. They were, however, required to look closely to see where the photo was lighter & darker, so they were learning about shading, too. The students seemed to have fun doing it. They had to be observant, but without the pressure to make something look realistic.
I drew this one in pencil without using a photo or a grid, simply tried to exaggerate features somewhat and not necessarily make them proportional, but never got around to coloring it until years later. I hand-colored the one on the bottom left. I scanned and adjusted it in Photoshop to 3 additiional color combinations.
(The Canon listed to the right is my scanner, not a camera.)
João “J Desenhos” Carvalho is sixteen years old, entirely self-taught, and draws with supplies you could find at any Wal-Mart. Here’s what
Source by julee1590
sharekid.com/this-self-taught-teenager-draws-mind-bending...
#ShareKid
From the details in the photo album I can be certain that this photo album once belonged to David John Saer who was the Headmaster at the Alexander Rd Council School in Aberystwyth.
He was born in 1868 in Ciffig nr Whitland Carmarthenshire Wales. On the 1911 census this is spelt Kiffig. His mother Anne was also from Ciffig b 1846 and his father James b 1846 was a Police Constable from St Clears Carmarthen. He had two brothers John Saer b1869 in Carmarthen and William Rees Saer b1877 in Llanelli Carmarthen.
David married Mary Howell in 1896
The 1911 census indicates they had had 3 children 1 had died. The 2 girls were Hywela Annie born 1901 and Gwenllian Margaret b 1905
David John Saer was one of 3 Headteachers at the Alexander Rd Council School in Aberystwyth. According to the Ceredigion County Council the school had one for the boys (which was David) one for Girls and one for infants. Alexandra Road School was built in 1874 for 600 children aged 5-14
In 1910 a new block was built for 240 more boys with a manual room for 20 boys and a new class room for 40 girls with a cookery centre.
David taught at the school for 33 years and left behind a legacy in the form of a no of publications inc The Bilingual Problem ... a study based upon Experiments and observations in Wales , Find on Pendinas and Inquiry into effect of bilingualism upon the intelligence of young children. There are many more.
His daughter Hywela obviously followed in the same path and became an Education Lecturer, UCW . She also published books including Modern language teaching in smaller secondary schools,
Modern language teaching in Wales, Note on Dr. Johnson.
Mr Saer was a regular visitor to Llanelli so perhaps hewas aboard the train on this day or the news travelled so quickly that he rushed to the scene to take this photo?
From the Welsh Newspapers Online newspapers.library.wales/home
THE LLANELLY RAILWAY WRECKI Thrilling Stories of the Disaster. LIST OF THE KILLED AND INJURED. The cause of the Breakdown.EXPLODED. H0R3E AND CART THEORY The tale of the dead in the Llanelly railway wreck, concerning which so many conflicting statements were current yesterday afternoon, appears, so far as the official reports to hand this morning show, to be limited to the number which, in our second Pink edition last night, we said would probably cover that side of the catastrophe. On the other hand, the number of injured has increased from the highest figure which we gave yesterday (viz., forty) to fifty. Very little more is known as to the cause of the accident. The horse and cart incident which was reported to us yesterday afternoon appears to have been with- out foundation, and the only suggestion yet made to account for the smash-up is that the banker engine was too light and unfitted for the speed at which the second engine was taking the train. At any rate, whatever the immediate cause the acciident has to be attributed to a mechanical breakdown.
The train which met with the disaster was the morning mail express from New Milford to Paddington, which was drawn by two engines at the time. The express reached Llanelly all right, but just as it was nearing Loughor at a high rate of speed the leading engine seems to have left the rails. By the impact this engine banker was smashed, two of the leading coaches were overturned and tumbled over the embankment, and two coaches were telescoped and reduced to matchwood. The driver of the banker engine was cut in two and killed instantly, the fireman succumbing to his injuries later, and two passengers also were killed, whilst the permanent way was torn up for a considerable distance and traffic interrupted.
Heartrending scenes were witnessed. I INTERVIEWS with PASSENGERS I Graphic Stories Told of the Disaster. By the same train which conveyed the injured to Swansea arrived several Swansea gentlemen who had been in the train to which the accident had occurred. These included Mr. Francis, butcher, a. well-known tradesman; and Mr. Haydn Evans, coal merchant. Mr. Francis was somewhat injured, and showed signs of blood on his body. Mr. Evans said he came up from Llanelly by the train. It was very crowded. He was in a second-class carriage, with his back to the engine, and there happened to be only four persons in the carriage. The train, which had two engines on, had, apparently, reached its top speed-it must have been going 50 miles an hour-when suddenly there came a tremendous. check to the speed. It was as if the train had left the rails, and was ploughing over obstacles on the side of the track. It must have gone 50 yards in the second or two it took to stop. He was pitched violently to the other side of the carriage, and, naturally, lost his head a bit. He never realised what had happened, but the carriage did not turn over like some of the others. As soon as he could he got out, and he should never forget the scene which met his gaze. The cries of the, injured and the yells I of others endeavoring to direct the rescue work were confusing. When the injured were got out it was a sickening sight. There were people with feet and legs, apparently, half off; others had deep gashes in their heads; and one man had a, ear hanging almost off. There were a few splendid fellows in the train. In particular Mr. Evans admired the conduct of two of the soldiers. They did splendid work in smashing doors to l get at the injured, and they evidently I had had good experience of ambulance work. They got down doors and lifted I people from the tops of the carriages. There was a doctor present whom Mr. Evans did not L-now-a. traveller by the train. He rendered splendid help, cutting up towels and all sorts of garments for bandages, and altogether did wonders in an emergency; but it was an awful wait. Aid seemed terribly slow in arriving. He (the narrator) was on the spot, surrounded by agonizing scenes, for quite an hour before they got the engine away.
Dr. Abel David, Gowerton, was the first local doctor to arrive. Mrs. Williams, of Loughor, came immediately to the train, and assisted greatly in the relief work. The train was in an awful state. Three or four carriages seemed to be overturned. The second engine kept to the road, but not the rails. It seemed so far as Mr. Evans could judge to have jumped the line. Mr. Evans escaped with a severe shaking, but he, naturally, appeared to be highly nervous and I excited.
Colonel's Story. I Colonel Graines, of Tenby, who was travel- ling with his daughter, was one of the passengers in the third carriage of the train. He described his first sensations in the accident thus: Everything was being shaken up like a pea in a drum. Things were falling off the tracks, people were staggering about. The glass in the windows all smashed, and then after a big jerk the carriage suddenly became still. We found we had run on to a slag heap at the side of the line. The first two carriages were toppled over on the engines. Someone opened the door from outside, then we got out into a. scene of the greatest I confusion. Some things were very pitiful. There was a poor girl wandering from carriage to carriage asking, Where's my dada; where's my dada?" I and the other people who had been in the same carriage knew that her father was mortally injured, but we could not tell her, and some of the ladies looked after her. She was afterwards taken to Landore by a. man who had two of his own children with him. I very much admired the gallant conduct of some gunners of the Field Artillery who had been riding in the train. Aa soon as the accident occurred they rushed to the assistance of the officials, and were of the greatest service in extricating and attending to the wounded. Do you know what was the cause of the accident?No, I do not, but it is a well- known fact that with two engines to a train one is liable to jump the line. The colonel concluded with a. tribute to the railway officials near the accident for the promptitude with which they dealt with it. He was told that one survivor had suggested I that the company might have sent the relief I train earlier. The company did all they could," he said. "They sent the train as soon as it I was possible to do so."
Cardiff Man's Thrilling Story. I Mr. James Turner, of 12. Corporation-road. Cardiff, was one of the passengers in the m-I fated, train when he reached Cardiff r gave one of our representatives a graphic I description of his experiences. He said: "I was in the fourth carriage from the engine, and we left Llanelly soon after one. Within half a mile of Loughor Station I suddenly felt the carriage give a jump. This was followed by a bigger. jump. Up I sprang from the seat, and said, 'By Jove, there'a. a collision.' Then I felt the carriage was shutting up like a concertina, and with that sprang to the. side and jumped clean through the window and fell about twelve or fourteen feet. As soon as I looked up I saw the carriage go over the line and rush down over the embankment. I got up and heard a terrible yell, 'For God's sake, help me.' Looking round I saw a gentleman. who was afterwards recognized as the Rev. J. E. Phillips, of Pontygwaith, lying under a beam. He had his thigh broken. I caught him by the collar and dragged him out, and thus saved him from immediate, death, for directly afterwards the carriage in which be traveled collapsed. "I got away the best I could, and made the rev. gentleman as comfortable as possible, and he then collapsed. I found that he had also received a severe blow on the head. "During this time there was a dead silence, and those who escaped seemed thoroughly cool. The execution was horrible, and what with those killed and injured the scenes were most heartrending. "No one can conceive," Mr. Turner ex- claimed, "the state the wreckage was in- some of it one side, some of it another. The whole line was blocked, and the line was ripped up for about 150 yards. There were a number of poor fellows under the wreckage- it was a crowded train and I saw the engine- driver lying dead, with his body jammed in the remains of the engine."
Scene Baffled Description. I A thrilling account of the accident was given by Mr. Richard Smith, who was on his way from Pembroke Dock to Wednesbury, in Staffordshire. Mr. Smith has served five year& on the pay-staff in South Africa, and has only recently returned to this country. Since his return he has been staying at Pembroke Dock, where his wife is now residing, and, being granted leave of absence, was on his I way to see his mother, who resides in King- street, Wednesbury. Mr. Smith was accompanied by his two children, a boy and girl. "The run from Pembroke to Llanelly," he said to our representative. was a splendid one. We had two engines, and the train. which had a. full complement of passengers, made excellent time. I was in the second carriage from the engine. It was a saloon carriage, and in my compartment were four ladies, my two children, and my- self. We started from Llanelly punctually, and had not proceeded far before we heard a most peculiar grating noise. At first we could not imagine the cause, and for a moment the noise ceased. A minute later, however, the noise was resumed, and the carriage in which we were travelling turned over on its side. 'A collision,* shouted someone in the carriage, and immediately there were scenes which it is impossible for me to adequately describe. The women in my compartment simply lost their heads. They shouted in a hysterical fashion, and implored everyone at random to save them from death. "Personally," continued Mr. Smith, "I quickly grasped what had happened. Seeing the carriage was on its side I smashed the windows, which were then above me, lifted out my two children, and placed them in positions of safety, and then turned my attention. to the women occupants in the same compartment. With difficulty they were got out on to the permanent way. Here the scenes almost bamed description. One man, who was in the same carriage as I was, sustained shocking injuries, and I guessed when I assisted him out of the window that he was mortally hurt. I understand that he died shortly afterwards. A little girl came I running along from carriage to carriage, crying, 'Where's my daddy ? Where's my daddy?' It was the dying man who was sought .by the little one. We pacified the girl as well as we co-aid, and, at the request of the railway authorities, I took charge of her until she reached Landore, whither she was bound. A woman in the same compartment bound for Devonport, suffered very badly from shock, but after a time was able to proceed on her journey as far as Cardiff. Another woman was cut about in a fearful manner. My two children sustained more or less serious injuries, and, as you will see, I was badly cut on my right hand and bruised on my head. The sights of rescue, the groans of the wounded, and the removal of the bodies are scenes which I shall never forget. I should like to add a word of praise to the medical gentlemen, who were simply indefatigable in their efforts on behalf of the injured." A Fearful Sight. I Our Neath representative says that a Neath I man, an employee of the Great Western Railway Company, was iu the train, and his experiences are interesting. Beinj an old railway hand and having been in nine previous railway accidents, I knew instantly that something serious had happened; in fact, that some part of the train was off the line. We went on for about 80 to 100 yards and then the final crash came. The end of our compartment was stove in with the terrible impact. The gentleman opposite me had his arm broken, and the other gentleman was severely shaken. I was knocked about and badly shaken, but, singularly enough, the lady and the child did not seem much the worse. "My first thoughts were for them. There was no chance of getting them out through either door, so I assisted them out through the roof, which was shattered, on to the roof of the next coach, and then to the ground." "What was the condition of the engines and I the coaches?" our representative asked. "Well, the bank engine was shattered and turned upside down, and the driver, whose name, I think, was Lloyd, was killed on the spot. Poor fellow! I searched for the body, ¡ and found his head among the debris of the l first engine in one place, the trunk in another, and the arms in another. It was a fearful sight. The stoker, whose name I don't know. was terribly injured, and I hear that he has died since." "Oh, you asked me as to the condition of the engines and the coaches. In regard to the second engine it was virtually shattered. The van following was reduced practically to matchwood, and from this we improvised the splints for the injured. The first coach was turned upside down, and the third had its end telescoped, and had fallen down over the I bank." "The end of the third coach was also telescoped, and the back part stove in. I was in this coach, and I have already told you what happened to the occupants. Nos. 4 and A coaches suffered severely, but ia p6 lesser degree, and the sixth and last coach was the only one which was left on the rails. The occupants of all suffered from severe shock, and when I left the actual number of casualties was not known." "What theory can you advance to account for the accident?" our representative asked. "It has been said that the bank engine collided with a horse and cart when passing the crossing." "There is no truth whatever in that, for we had parsed the crossing some distance before the accident happened." "Then what caused it?" "I cannot account for it. I have tried to account for the accident, but have failed."
Passengers Terror-Stricken Speaking to our representative, Mr. Wilkins (chairman of the Llanelly Urban District Council), who was a passenger by the train, said, that he could give, no explauation of what had occurred. That was for the rail- way authorities to do. All that he knew was that when the train was rattling along at a good speed he felt a sadden shock, and a moment later he knew that the train had left the track and was crushing through the slags on the embankment. He was thrown from his seat, and some flying timber crushed his leg. But this was. not serious. He added that the scene which presented itself to him as he got out of the train was one that he would never forget. The passengers, like himself, were all terror-stricken, and the plight of the ladies was pitiable in the extreme. He spoke in high terms of the kindness of the railway officials, and could not find words to express his appreciation of the splendid work done by the medic.at men, w.ho rose to the terrible emergency in a way that was splendid to see. Occupants of the First Carriage Interviewed. Our Swansea representative met and con- versed with several persons at Swansea who were in the very first carriage of the train- one which split up like matchwood and went down the embankment at the side. In a compartment in this carriage were Miss Church- ward, of Woking, Surrey, who had been staying with her sister, Mrs. Saunders, wife of Dr. Saunders, in Pembrokeshire. Also two little orphap. girls, Muriel and Dorothy Claxton, of Crawley, Sussex. They had been staying at Tenby, and were proceeding homewards. Mr. T. Francis,, cattle dealer, of Swansea, was in the same carriage, but in the next compartment. They had marvelous escapes, for all except the elder Miss Claxton (who sustained a fractured clavicle) were practically uninjured. Mr. Francis was seen by our representative after he had gone home and washed the blood from some nasty little cuts on the left side of his head and face. He asked where the little girls were, as he promised to take them to his home. in Swan- sea, and supply them with what they wanted for their journey, but he had lost them. "It was a terrible affair," said Mr. Francis. "Our carriage was smashed to pieces. After we felt the first bump we must have gone rocking and bumping along for nearly 100yds., during which time we were falling against and bumping each other fearfully. Then, apparently, the couplings of our carriage must have broken. The second engine went off the line to the right, and our carriage and the next one went on, as it were, into the place the second engine had occupied, and lay there side by side. I got up from where I had fallen^ and scrambled, through the. window, which was above that of the carriage next to it. I had to climb over the next carriage. The hot steam from the engine had filled our carriage, and at the same time there were flying cinders and splinters showered upon us, cutting, as it were, into our scalps. I got out, as I say, and I must say it was a terrible sight that met my gaze. The injured people seemed in terrible agony, and what the railway people were doing for about, an hour and a half after the accident I cannot make out. It was a scandalous shame." Miss Churchward and the two little Misses Claxton were taken to the Swansea Hospital by Superintendent Gill, and were not detained. They afterwards went to the Grand Hotel. Miss Churchward said the carriage seemed to go to splinters around them, and then there were splinters of wood driven against their heads. She escaped from the carriage without further injury. She lost her purse and some other things. The two Misses Claxton, girls of about sixteen and ten years of age respectively, seemed quite cheerful considering the experiences they had undergone. They were hatless, and their clothing was covered with dirt. The elder had been treated at the hospital, and her arm was- now bound up inside her coat. They intended proceeding to. London by the next train. Miss Claxton the elder said the whole thing occurred so suddenly that none of them could say really what happened. Her arm was hurt, but whether by being thrown against the woodwork of the carriage she could not say. The smaller Miss Claxton seemed none the worse, and seemed to treat the matter as a huge joke. "You are light, and you didn't fesl being; thrown about?" "That's it, I suppose," she said, laughingly, j "I've never been in a railway accident uetore. It was a nice finish to our holiday." Later on the girls were seen going to the station at Swansea without any hats, but still full of pluck and go. Miss Churchward had taken them under her charge. SENSATIONAL ACCOUNT. The Rev. Fuller Mills' Story. me nev. A. Fuller Mills, when seen by our Carmarthen representative at the hospital, was evidently in great agony. His leg had been fractured and terribly lacerated below the knee. He had just been visited by Dr. E. G. Price, Carmarthen, and seemed quite pleased to see another familiar face. He said he could not then attempt to describe what happened. "It was too terrible," he said. "I was on the grass for a. very long time without assistance, and my poor leg was in pieces. I am very thankful that it was not worse, though." "Can you see my coat?" asked Mr. Mills, who was lying in the cot. Our representative made a search under the bed, where he found the patient's clothes care- fully packed together. They were covered with blood, and torn. He wanted to know whether papers about which he was anxious were in his pocket. These were missing, and Mr. Mills remarked: "Ah! well, they have gone, I suppose, like my bag and other things. I don't know where they can be. The whole thing has been too terrible to think of." Screams and Crash of Glass The Misses Farley, of Tenby, who were passengers by the ill-fated train, were seen on Monday evening at Pantmawr, Whit- church, the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Davies, who are related to them, and with whom they are making a short stay, having specially traveled up from Tenby for that purpose. The young ladies were naturally much perturbed, although they were able to give an intelligent account of their experience and miraculous escape. They started from Tenby by the 10.55 train. They were seen off at the station by their friends. Miss Farley, sen., wished to ride in the compartment of a corridor carriage three or four carriages from the engine, but her younger sister and her friends prevailed upon her to get into a compartment at the lower end of the same carriage. The carriage being a through one they did not change at Whitland. In the same compartment were seven or eight other passengers. Everything went well until a short time after they left Llanelly, when they heard a noise, and the luggage was suddenly precipitated upon them. They naturally became alarmed, and soon after they could hear screams and the crash of broken glass. All the passengers in the compartment had by this time become alarmed and agitated. The Misses Farley j made an appeal for the door to be opened, but they were asked to becalm themselves Then the two girls clutched each other. thinking that if they were to die they would die together. A student who was in the same compartment got through the window and jumped down. Then a voice and a cry was heard as if it came from the top of the carriage, and on looking up they could see Colonel Goodeve, of Ivy Tower, Tenby, and a woman with a small baby walking above their heads. Evidently the colonel and the woman with the child had scrambled on to the top of the coach for safety. The little child had a nasty cut on its head. Eventually the Misses Farley were released from their prison and taken down the embankment, where they were told to sit. Every attention was shown to them by the officials, and they were given some brandy, as were the others who had escaped death. The front part of the carriage in which they traveled was smashed, and if the elder Miss Farley had not fallen in with the wishes of her sister and friends to ride in the compartment at the lower end of the carriage there is no doubt they would have been killed. One poor woman, said the elder Miss Farley, who was in the lavatory in the carriage at the time of the accident, had her foot cut off, while Dr. Reid, of Tenby, sustained a nasty cut on the head. She herself was all right, with the exception that her shoulder was slightly hurt by the luggage falling upon it. Asked to describe the scene, Miss Farley said it was impossible. She never witnessed such a thing-women with their arms through their blouses cut and bleeding; men cut on the face and head, with their clothes and shirts saturated with blood, and, above all, the cries and groans of those who had been more severely injured, and of those who were dying. "Ah!" she said, in conclusion, "the scene is one I cannot describe. and is one which I trust..it will not be . I have to thank my sister and my friends for my life. If we traveled in the compartment into which I first entered we should both have been killed." A Terrible Sight. Mr. Samuel, an articled pupil to a. firm of surveyors and architects, gave our Llanelly representative a graphic account of the occurrence
I was standing in a corridor of the express with Mr. Wade when all of a sudden the train dropped on to the permanent way from the metals. It crunched along for a few yards, and then came to a sudden standstill. All who were in the corridor were thrown to the ground. Our compartment threatened to topple over on its side, and as soon as I recovered myself I got out and found a terrible scene. The first engine had turned completely round, and was a mass of ruin, while the coaches had been crushed to pieces. The Montreal was off the metals, but it stood fairly entire, but its tender was a shapeless mass. We found the body of the driver of the banker engine under the wheels of the express engine, death having been, happily, instantaneous in his case. The lot of the passengers was pitiable in the extreme, and I could not help feeling sorry for the ladies, some of whom were in the last stage of prostration, although they had not sustained any bodily hurt. I was carrying with me some of my instruments, including a drawing board, rulers, scales, &c. These were promptly utilized as splints for the service of the injured ones, and I was glad that they should come in useful in such an emergency." "The Shock was Awful."
Another passenger, Miss Williams, of Carmarthen, said: was on my way to London. We were about half a mile out of Loughor, when all of a sudden we found our- selves hurled right across the carriage. Then we heard cries from all parts of tue train. Our own carriage was about the third from the engine, and as soon as the crash occurred we found the carriage swaying and leaping under us, as though we were on a ship. We were not hurt, but the shock was awful. The worst part of it was the agonising cries of the injured. The poor engine-driver was cut up into three pieces, and there were others whose limbs were badly shattered and mutilated. I could not say how many people were killed. The ground was torn up for a long distance, and the first engine appeared to be smashed to pieces. It was a scene I shall never forget. The screams of the injured passengers are still ringing in my ears. It was horrible. We were brought on by a special train, which was dispatched to the scene."
GRAPHIC STORY BY COLONEL GOODEVE. Touching Tribute to a Young Lady. One of the travelers by the train was Colonel Goodeve, who will be remembered by artillerymen, Regular and Auxiliary, in South Wales as having been for some years the officer commanding the Severn Defences. In that position he frequently visited Cardiff, and was on very friendly terms with the late Sir Edward Hill, K.C.B., M.P. Having retirêd i from the Army, he now lives at Ivy Tower, about three miles from Tenby, and was on a. journey to London when the accident happened. It was in the Royal Hotel, at Cardiff, that one of our reporters found him. He said:- "We left Llanelly about two minutes after one o'clock on Monday afternoon. About twenty minutes later we found that some- thing had gone wrong. The carriage in which I was, a corridor one, began to rock violently, and the passengers were hurled about in all directions. It was clear that the carriage had left the track." "What part of the train were you in?" "There were two engines, one, I under- stand being a bank engine, and the carriage in which I was was next to that engine." "Well, what happened next?" "After we got about 50 or 60 yards we found that we were brought to a dead stop on the side of an embankment, and almost parallel with the engine, but about ten feet lower. It appears to me that the couplings must have broken, and ours was pitched head foremost against a bank at the bottom of a rising hill. This brought us to a dead stop, and the whole front of the carriage in which I was riding was smashed up. The fore part of my own compartment was wrecked, but the damage did not reach the side upon which I was sitting. Then I saw on a still lower level, opposite to the compartment in which I was, another carriage, which had turned over partly on its side. just at that moment there was a rush of steam which almost blinded us, and the women who were in our carriage commenced to scream. Every effort was made to allay their fears, and when the steam cleared away a little we could see that we could get out of the window, and get upon the carriage which had turned over just below us. We saw that the women were removed first, nearly all of whom were more or less injured, but so far as I could see not fatally so." "I suppose that the excitement at this time was very great?" suggested the pressman. "It was," came the reply, "but it was nothing to what we had to experience later. One or two of those who had sustained the more severe injuries, such as broken limbs, were left behind until further help could be obtained. They were safe for the time, and we might have done more harm in attempting to remove them than by allowing them to remain. "How many were in your compartment?" "Seven or eight." "You seemed to have had a marvelous escape?" "Yes, I only had a Blight cut across the nose. Most of the others were bleeding badly, gome from the head, while others evidently had received bodily injuries." "Now, I understand you got out from your carriage on to the other which was on a lower level, and which had partly turned over?" "Several got out in that way, myself among the number. The more agile ones climbed down the embankment, but I waited until some steps were brought. A friend of mine, I may mention, was riding in the same train â Dr. Reid, of Tenby. He was a good bit cut about the head, and went away somewhere. He was in the next compartment to me towards the rear, but the train being of the corridor description, we walked to and fro." "Now, I am afraid, we are coming to the worst of it. What took place when you got clear from the wrecked carriages?" "Yes, you are right. It was, indeed, a terrible scene. What with the hysteria of the women and the groans of the dying it was a scene which was to the last degree saddening. One man, who was in the same carriage as myself, only lived five or six minutes after he was brought out. As a matter of fact, he never spoke after he was brought out. He appeared to be smashed up altogether, so that it was impossible for me to say what his injuries were. So far as I could gather, most of the killed were in the first coaches." How many coaches were there on the train?" "I believe the number was eight. The two first ran down the embankment, three turned turtle,' and three remained on the rails. My opinion is that the first engine was' stopped as quickly as possible for some reason; that the second, with the weight of the load behind, was smashed up in a. most marvelous way, and the two first carriages broke away. My idea is that the whole thing was due to a subsidence in the track." "Now, what assistance was there?" "In that respect the passengers were rather unfortunate. Loughor is a little place, and it was an hour before any help came from there, and it was an hour and a haJf before any assistance came from Swansea . There was a doctor there, who rendered ail assistance he could but he could not attend to all." I A Brave Girl. Our reporter had thanked Colonel Goodeve for his information and left the room, when he was called back to receive one of the most interesting parts of the sad story. I should have told you," said the colonel, that all the passengers rendered every possible assistance. Among those was a fair-haired girl, who, badly hurt herself, did all she could to bring comfort to others. She remembered that she had some brandy in a small travelling-bag, and brought it out. and went round among the more severely wounded giving them mouthfuls of the liquid until the doctors arrived." Colonel Goodeve added that he saw the driver of one of the engines with his head across the rail and a wheel upon his neck. That, he added, was sufficient to unnerve anybody. The rails were torn up, and the end of one section was about 18ft. above the permanent way. I SINGULAR INCIDENTS. I Heroism of the Injured. The list of the injured includes the name of a man who had his two legs injured and an arm fractured. He was brought down to Llanelly in a special train, but instead of going to the hospital he chose to return to his home in Swansea-, and accommodation was, therefore, provided for him in the branch train from Llanelly. In spite of his terrible injuries, he was perfectly composed, I and the last seen of him was his calmly smoking a, cigarette as the train steamed out. Scenes at Llanelly Station. The scene at the Llanelly Station on Monday, evening upon the arrival of the train conveying the injured passengers was most pathetic. There was a crowd of anxious lookers-on 'who had relatives in the ill-fated train. No information could be given as to the identity of the sufferers, and a period of anxious suspense followed, as each of them was care- fully removed to a conveyance in waiting and driven to the hospital. Llanelly was practically denuded of the services of its medical men. Among those who were quickly on the scene were Doctors D. J. Williams, S. Williams, A. Brookes, S. J. Roderick, J. L. Davies, Edgar Davies, E. Evans, and Harry Roberts. All these were in the evening in attendance at the hospital completing the good work they had commenced in the afternoon. Passenger's Strange Delusion. A young man, gesticulating amongst the crowd of spectators, declared that he had seen a boot with a foot inside by the embankment. A search was immediately made for the supposed body. The man seemed to be terribly in earnest about his discovery, but the searchers found no trace of what he had imagined. This was one of many incidents which went to show how highly strung the frightened passengers were after their terrible experience. Providential Escape. Among those who traveled by the express was Vr. M'Bride, who entered the train at Tenby, He had intended going to Swansea, but upon arriving at Llanelly he decided to break his journey there and go on by a later train. He was sitting in a smoking compartment in the forward part of the train which was completely' wrecked, and turned over OIl the embankment, all the occupants of the compartment being severely injured. Mr. M'Bride looks upon his escape as provident. Policeman and the Little Girl. One very pathetic incident is recorded by Police-constable Williams, of Loughor. He was one of the first police officers to arrive on the scene of the catastrophe, and, having r studied ambulance work, he asked Dr. Trafford Mitchell (Gorseinon) whether he could render any assistance. "Yes," replied Dr. Mitchell, "there is a little girl over there with a, broken arm. Go and see what you can do for her." Williams went over. The little girl was pale, crying in great pain. She told him that her arm was extremely painful. Williams went off to find splints and bandages, and after a few minutes he went back to the little girl. But his charge had vanished. She had been., hurried off to either Llanelly or Swansea, Hospital. Sympathy from Llanelly. At the meeting of the Llanelly Borough. Council on Monday the Chairman, Mr. D. J. Davies, said that he had just heard that a serious disaster had occurred on the Great. Western Railway near Llanelly, and that a large number of persons had been seriously injured, if not killed. It was impossible to ascertain exactly what had occurred, but they could well understand the anxiety that prevailed in the town, knowing as they did that a large number of Llanellyites were in the train. He was glad to state that one of the members of the council, in the person of Mr. W. Wilkins, who was a passenger, had escaped without injury. Their deepest sympathy went out to the relatives of the men who had been killed, and he proposed a vote of sympathy with them in their bereavement. This was seconded by Mr. D. Bees Edmonds,, and carried in silence. The news of the disaster was officially communicated by the local branch of the Bail- waymen's Association to Mr. D. Bees Edmonds, their Llanelly legal representative. Mr., Edmonds at once placed himself in communication with Mr. Richard Bell, M.P. It is expected that Mr. Bell will visit the scene to-' day (Tuesday). Heroic Suflerer at Swansea. A heroic sufferer was Private Savage, of that Shropshire Regiment, who, although found at, Swansea Hospital to have shocking injuries to the head which made his case a serious one, when the doctors came to look at him. on the platform, said, Never mind me, boys; go and assist the others. I'm all right." He limped away to the cab which. took him to the hospital. Soldiers' Good Work. Some seven or eight of the soldiers belonging to different regiments, who traveled by the train, were among the most heroic workers of & very heroic band. They proved themselves veritable "handy-men." Whether in removing the wreckage from its resting- place upon some poor unfortunate sufferer. or in conveying the wounded to the special trains for conveyance to the hospitals, they were equally energetic. A Guardsman who had two medals on his breast was very prominent among the soldier workers, and another ma-n with four medals worked like a Trojan. as indeed did all the gallant members of the, Army, one of whose number was among the injured. The splendid services rendered by the soldiers was one of the bright features of a terribly tragic affair. No Money for Telegrams. Two little girls travelling together to London dictated to Mr. Pugh, of the Y, a wire to relatives. Desiring to pay for it they searched for their purses, but found they were lost beneath the debris. Miss Churchward, of Pembroke, found her- self in similar trouble from which, however, she was at once relieved by Mr. Pugh, who dispatched the telegrams by special messengers. A little girl, named Finn, travelling to Cadoxton with her father, escaped injury herself, but her parent was badly hurt, and the grief of the child was heartrending. The farmers, colliers, and cottagers of the neighborhood treated the strangers with kindness.
As her eyes fluttered open, she awoke to emptyness. The trees stood still and not a single blade of grass rustled as no breeze blew. The only sound was of her soft, slow breaths.
In
Out
In
Out
Finally she got herself up and walked around trying to gain a sense of where she was.
Hopelessly lost.
She wandered.
With not a single memory left her identity seemed unimportant. Rushing is something for those who have matters to attend to. When one has no worries, time can pass without effect. The woods stretched on for miles and her journey seemed to go no further towards awakening.
The lamentation of her husband went unnoticed as Winter had his final laugh.
Spring came and went and all the seasons passed along turns and turns and one day he awoke, walked out of his door, and resumed his life.
For love can crush the soul, but can also fill it up with happiness. Everyone in the span of a life has both parts and sometimes you get more of one or more of the other and you can only live. Live to love, love to live. This is what Winter taught me.
Part Six and the Final Installment of the What Winter Taught Me Series
For anyone who read through and viewed the whole series, thank you. This was my foray into the literary/photography divide and I realized that I quite enjoy creative writing so I might be adding this as a minor in addition to my Journalism degree. Let's see where this goes. Also I found out that not uploading for a week kills me inside. I was on a service trip and it was just not possible for me to upload anything or keep up with all you awesome contacts and your streams so now I have to play catch up. I hope everyone is good. I know I'm happy.
Also I launched my new website: here
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